Russia will use the coming weeks to deploy a "three-layered" plan to destabilise Ukraine as much as possible before Kyiv receives new weapons, according to the Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

       Vadym Skibitskyi claimed May will be pivotal as Moscow tries to secure a significant advantage as US military equipment will strengthen Ukrainian defences.

       Skibitskyi noted Ukraine's current stocks will not be able to match Russian weaponry nor provide efficient protection from destructive guided bombs.

       He also expects Moscow to relaunch a more embittered misinformation campaign to undermine President Volodymyr Zelensky as his presidential term comes to an end on May 20.

       Under the Ukrainian Constitution, the state of war allows for the indefinite extension of Zelensky's stay in power but Russian propagandists are already seeking to highlight his vulnerability.

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       The intelligence chief also argued Russia will renew efforts to isolate Ukraine and put an end to the international support it has received since the start of the war.

       Skibitskyi told The Economist: "They will be shaking things up whichever way they can."

       His warning comes as NATO countries say they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance's soil they attribute to Russia, and which they say constitutes a threat to their security.

       NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday in a message posted on the social media platform X that actions including disinformation, sabotage, acts of violence and cyber and electronic interference “will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.”

       There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Russian Foreign Ministry on Stoltenberg's statement.

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       A UK-based think tank earlier this year said Russia was rebuilding its capacity to destabilise European countries, posing a strategic threat to NATO as its members focus on the war in Ukraine.

       And Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country, said Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region to punch through the Ukrainian defensive line.

       “The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions, they have achieved certain tactical advances,” he said on national television. “The situation is changing dynamically.”

       Russia has pushed Ukraine onto the back foot on the battlefield as Kyiv grapples with shortages of troops and ammunition. Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications at places along the around 1,000-kilometre front line.