• General Staff of Ukraine reported rocket and missile attacks on the Nikopol.
• A theatre had burned down in Hulyaipole, he claimed.
• There had also been a woman killed there.

There are new signs that Russian forces are escalating hostilities in and around the south-east Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia.

In its most recent report on military operations, the General Staff of Ukraine reported rocket and missile attacks on the nearby Ukrainian city of Nikopol as well as missile strikes on the hamlet of Hulyaipole.

The regional leader of Zaporizhzhia, Oleksander Staurk, reported that Russian artillery shelling continued early on Saturday and that 21 communities in his territory had just come under attack.

A theatre had burned down in Hulyaipole, he claimed, and there had also been a woman killed there.

Although the General Staff update verified intense strikes and detailed tank, mortar, and artillery fire over a dozen front-line areas, including between Orikhiv and Kamyanske, Ukrainian officials have not yet announced any such loss of ground.

The war’s front lines, particularly those to the south-east of Zaporizhzhia, haven’t changed much in recent days. However, since the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces stated in a rare interview last month that Russian troops were “100% being prepared” for an offensive, there has been increased anticipation of a potential significant Russian move in recent weeks.

General Valery Zaluzhny told magazine he expected the push to happen, “in February, at best in March and at worst at the end of January.”

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