Russia has changed its tactics in its 15-month long war in Ukraine, and has started to deliberately bomb residential areas, the Ukrainian government says. According to Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, one of its aims is to provoke an early counteroffensive. The latest missile strikes were intended to test whether Ukraine was able to protect its own air space, Mykhailo Podolyak said.

Russia does not have enough munitions to achieve success on the offensive,according to UK intelligence.Russia continues to give the highest priority to mobilising its defence industry, but it is still failing to meet war time demands. While Russia’s political leaders persist in demanding success on the battlefield, Russia’s logistics professionals are stuck in the middle, the British Ministry of Defence says.
Meanwhile Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu declared, at a meeting of top military brass, that Russia’s missile output must be doubled. He stated weapons production and the supply of arms to the front line in Ukraine would be crucial to the success of what Moscow calls its "special military operation", Reuters reports.

The US will announce its 37^th package of military aid for Ukraine today, worth USD 300 million, that will for the first time include a short-range air-launched rocket, two U.S. officials said, Reuters reports. The rockets could help Ukraine weaken Russian ground positions and provide advancing Ukrainian ground forces with air support as Kyiv plans a spring offensive.