(Corrects spelling in dateline)

By Maria Starkova

LVIV Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukraine’s armed forces prepared for a Russian offensive Monday as strong explosions rocked the cities of the south and east. Austria’s leader also planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to call for an end the conflict.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, continued his campaign for international support and rallies his fellow Ukrainian citizens. He warned that the week ahead would be intense and important.

Russia will become even more fearful It will fear losing. In a video message late at night, Zelenskiy explained that it will fear the truth.

Russian troops may move into the eastern part of our state to conduct larger-scale operations. They could use more missiles to attack us and more bombs. We are ready for them to act. “We will respond.”

Ukraine heard sirens of air raid early Monday.

“It is likely that the enemy, in order to disrupt the supply of goods to the places of hostilities, will continue to strike at transport infrastructure facilities in Ukraine in order to destroy or disable them,” the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said.

It said that Russian forces continued their assault on Mariupol’s southern part, looking to seize an iron and/or steel plant, and the seaport.

Russia may also have provocative acts in Transnistrian of the Republic of Moldova to accuse Ukraine of attacking a neighboring country, said the general staff without providing evidence.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk in Ukraine’s eastern region, claimed that Russian informants had targeted infrastructure, including food stores, without giving evidence. Reuters was unable to confirm these claims.

Karl Nehammer (Austrian Chancellor) said that Putin will meet him Monday in Moscow to have their first meeting since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, 2014.

“We are militarily neutral, but (have) a clear position on the Russian war of aggression against #Ukraine,” Nehammer wrote of Austria on Twitter (NYSE:) https://twitter.com/karlnehammer/status/1513193093784297476. It must end! It needs humanitarian corridors, ceasefire & full investigation of war crimes.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, displacing around 25% of its 44 million inhabitants. It also destroyed cities and injured or killed thousands.

While it failed to seize any of the major cities, Ukraine claimed that Moscow had been building up its troops in the east and is urging people to flee.

According to Ukrainian media, a series of strong explosions was heard near the Black Sea, in Ukraine’s northern city of Kharkiv.

Valentyn Resnichenko from the governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk said earlier that missiles had already destroyed Dnipro’s airport.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that high-precision missiles destroyed the Ukrainian headquarters of the Dnipro battalion, located in Zvonetsky.

Reuters was unable to confirm these reports immediately.

WEAPONS APPEALS

Zelenskiy, who was invading Russia, appealed to the Western powers for greater defense assistance and punishment of Moscow through tougher sanctions that include embargos on energy exports.

Jake Sullivan, U.S. National Security Advisor told ABC News that Ukraine will be given the weapons necessary to defeat the Russians and prevent them from capturing more towns and cities.

Zelenskiy stated that he was confident in his own military forces, but “unfortunately” he doesn’t believe the United States will provide everything he needs.

In an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Zelenskiy stated that “they have to supply weapons Ukraine as though they were defending their own people.” This is something they need to grasp. If they don’t speed up, it will be very hard for us to hold on against this pressure.”

Zelenskiy stated earlier via Twitter that he spoke on the telephone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz regarding additional sanctions as well as financial and defense support. According to his office, Zelenskiy discussed the proposals of Kyiv for an EU-wide new sanctions package with them.

On Friday, Russia was banned from importing coal and other goods to the EU. But it hasn’t yet stopped oil or gas imports.

CIVILIAN DEATHS

An increase in civilian deaths has led to international condemnation of the situation and the imposition of new sanctions.

Ludmila Zbaluk, the head of Dmytriv Village Department north of Kyiv stated that dozens were among the civilian remains found in the vicinity.

“There were more than 50 dead people. They fired from close range. There’s a car where a 17-year-old child was burned, only bones left. Half of a woman’s head was blown off. A bit farther, a man lying near his car was burned alive.”

Reuters was unable to confirm these reports immediately.

Moscow denies any accusations by the West of war crimes against Ukraine or other countries. The Russian government has consistently denied that civilians were targeted in a “special” operation it called to demilitarize and “denazify its southern neighbour. The West has dismissed it as an inexcusable pretext to war.

On Sunday, the World Bank predicted that Ukraine’s economy would collapse by 45% in 2015. Half of Ukraine’s businesses will be shuttered and grain exports cut off due to Russia’s blockade. This could make economic activity difficult for many regions.

Due to Western sanctions, the bank predicted that Russia’s GDP could contract by 11.2% in this year.