Ukrainian forces are poised to launch a major counteroffensive, while Russia seems to be bolstering its defense in occupied areas in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Wednesday that his country has received Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. The first shipments are said to have come from the United States, the Netherlands and Germany. Kyiv hopes Patriot will help strengthen the country's air defense capabilities against Russian missile and drone attacks.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar mentioned an expected counteroffensive by Ukraine. She said, "There will not be a day when the armed forces say tomorrow we are launching a counteroffensive."

Maliar said certain counteroffensive actions are already taking place. She noted that Russian troops are focusing on offensives in Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Russia announced on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin visited the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson and the eastern region of Luhansk.

The British defense ministry said on Thursday the Kremlin revealed in a press release that Putin visited the previously unknown "Dnepr Group of Forces." Dnepr is the Russian spelling of Ukraine's Dnipro River.

The ministry said the new forces' mission is likely to defend the southern sector of the Russian-occupied zone, especially along the Dnipro River, against the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Thursday that the enemy is conducting defensive operations in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson areas in the south.