Russia is seeking to turn the war in Ukraine into a long military confrontation and is training new divisions on the territory of neighbouring Belarus, a senior Ukrainian military officer said on Thursday.
Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov told a news briefing that despite the training in Belarus, the likelihood of a military operation being launched from Belarusian territory remained low.
"The Kremlin ... is seeking to turn the conflict into a prolonged armed confrontation," Gromov said.
He did not say what the Kremlin's aim might be in extending the already nearly 10-month-old war.
Ukrainian officials have suggested the Kremlin is desperate for victories to hold up to the Russian public after suffering a series of military setbacks, including a retreat from the southern city of Kherson after months of occupation.
"The enemy is shelling Kherson, trying to pretend to be active in the north. They are crawling like zombies on our positions in (the eastern city of) Bakhmut, creating pressure in the south of the Donetsk region," Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
"They understand that if they do not stretch the front now, then this winter will be a disaster for them."