 Russia Preparing for Maximum Escalation in Ukraine Ukraine is preparing for a major escalation by Russia, possibly even in the next two to three weeks. The Ukrainian president's top security official has said. Oleksii Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told Sky News that the hardest fighting was yet to come and said the next few months would be crucial in deciding the course of the war. He urged Western allies to send more weapons including Royal Air Force Typhoon jets from the UK and fighter aircraft from other partners. Russia is preparing for maximum escalation, Danilov said, in an interview at his headquarters in the capital of Kiev. It is gathering everything possible, doing drills and training. He did not rule out the possibility that President Vladimir Putin attempts another attack from the north, south and east. As happened on the 24th of February 2022, maybe even to coincide with the anniversary. We do understand everything is on the table. I can say that we are not excluding any scenario in the next two or three weeks. He said that Ukraine's military was preparing for all possibilities and this time around had significantly more support from Western partners such as the UK than 12 months ago. Those countries who help us in our struggle have started to provide us maximum help. A Western official, however, said that they had not seen sign yet of Russia planning anything specifically for the 24th of February. We will continue to monitor that, the Western official said in a briefing to journalists. Traditionally they have tried to do things on dates. The Ukrainians come from a similar culture as well in that regard but I haven't seen anything from either side to suggest they do have plans afoot. Mr Danilov said he expected about half or more than 320,000 soldiers mobilized by Russia last September would be involved in the second wave whenever it came. The first half of the manpower have already been deployed to Ukraine to replenish Russian lines after Moscow's invading forces suffered significant losses. Ukraine has also paid a heavy price in military personnel and civilians killed and wounded. Yet the top security official predicted even bloodier days ahead. Of course we went through an extensive difficult period but I'm conscious the main fights are yet to come and they will happen this year within two or three months. These will be the defining months in the war, Danilov said.