Western intelligence has warned of a massive occupier offensive in Ukraine this winter. Still, the Russians lack the resources to achieve significant results, according to US-based Russian political analyst and publicist Andrey Piontkovsky.

“Still, they expected Russia’s winter offensive. In early February, American intelligence warned very insistently that there would be an offensive. And not just a traditional one - the corpses of mobilized would be thrown at Ukrainian positions and also mechanized columns of tanks. Well, we saw these tanks near Vugledar," Piontkovsky said.

Also he noted, that intelligence predicted "some kind of psychic air attack": a massive accumulation of aviation on the Ukrainian borders and its use in Ukraine. This forecast was not confirmed.

“They didn’t go into this psychic. They don’t have a resource. And we see in all diplomatic activities … I see in all the activities of the entire Russian fifth column: to persuade by any means to some ceasefire, to some kind of negotiations, so that Russian President Vladimir Putin could "sell" something. In plain text, Putin is essentially saying openly to former Western partners: "Give me at least some piece of Ukrainian territory so that I can sell it to my people, if not as a victory, then as an honor. And thereby stay in power," Piontkovsky believes.