Russia is preparing plans for a potential new ground invasion toward Kyiv and Chernihiv, according to Ukrainian presidential official Pavlo Palisa.
Palisa, the deputy head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, said intelligence gathered from multiple sources shows Russian political leaders have ordered military commanders to draft several options for operations targeting the two northern regions.
However, Palisa stressed that there is a clear distinction between military planning and immediate operational preparation. He said Ukrainian forces have not yet detected any concentration of Russian troops indicating an imminent assault on either city.
Palisa noted that planning and preparation describes the current stage of the Russian process. In response, the Ukrainian General Staff has already developed defensive plans and countermeasure scenarios to handle such a development.
Memory of the 2022 invasion
The warning carries significant weight because Russian forces previously attempted to capture Kyiv during the opening days of the full scale invasion in February 2022.
During that initial push, Russian troops advanced from neighboring Belarus toward the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian forces repelled the offensive, forcing Russian troops to withdraw from the Kyiv region.
More than four years after that initial retreat, Ukrainian officials are highlighting new Russian planning for the northern front while fighting continues across other sectors of the country.
Troop recruitment and drone attacks
Palisa spoke as Ukrainian officials warned that Russia may soon bolster its frontline forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia could recruit around 300,000 additional men following parliamentary elections in September as part of a broader effort to expand its armed forces.
International reports indicate Moscow is assessing its ability to mobilize extra troops as the war continues with high casualties on both sides.
At the same time, Russia maintains constant aerial strikes against Ukrainian cities. Zelenskyy reported that Kyiv faces almost relentless drone attacks and called for a significant acceleration in the production of interceptor systems to counter Iranian-designed Shahed drones.
The intensity of the aerial bombardment was underlined in recent hours when a Russian drone strike on a warehouse near Kyiv triggered a major fire and killed 37 people. Ukrainian authorities described it as one of the deadliest single attacks in the country in 2026.
International reaction and NATO concern
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk voiced growing alarm over the trajectory of the war, stating that escalation from the Russian side was progressing.
Tusk made his statement following a briefing from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. It also came days after a surprise visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who reportedly warned Russian officials against escalating the confrontation with the United States and its NATO allies.
Tusk emphasized that the next six months would be decisive for the conflict and called for urgent reinforcement of Ukrainian air defenses. He added that Poland and NATO must remain prepared for a range of potential scenarios.
