Tensions rise as Russian forces prepare for potential Ukrainian attack in Crimea.

The leader of Crimea, appointed by Moscow, has stated that Russian forces in the region are prepared for a possible Ukrainian counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reaffirmed his intention to take back the Black Sea peninsula that Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Military analysts expect Kyiv to take advantage of improving weather to seize the battlefield initiative with new batches of Western weapons and fresh troops trained in the West. The Kremlin wants Kyiv to acknowledge Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea and also recognize September’s annexation of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia.