By Pavel Polityuk and Tom Balmforth
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian defence chiefs predicted Russia will launch a&nbsp;new&nbsp;offensive&nbsp;early next year that could include a second attempt to take the capital Kyiv, as&nbsp;Western allies stepped up their support with additional funding and military training.
Moscow's&nbsp;new&nbsp;offensive&nbsp;could happen as soon as January, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, General Valery Zaluzhniy and General Oleksandr Syrskiy were quoted as saying in interviews with The Economist magazine on Thursday.
The push could be launched from the eastern Donbas area, the south or neighbouring Belarus, and could include another ground assault on Kyiv, which Moscow failed to capture early in the invasion, the officials said.
"The&nbsp;Russians are preparing some 200,000 fresh troops. I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv," Zaluzhniy was quoted as saying.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also said&nbsp;in remarks published in The Guardian on Thursday that evidence was mounting that Russia planned a broad&nbsp;new&nbsp;offensive.
He speculated this could occur in February when half of the 300,000 troops conscripted by Russia in October to support the war would complete training.
&ldquo;The second part of the mobilisation, 150,000 approximately ... do a minimum of three months to prepare. It means they are trying to start the next wave of the&nbsp;offensive&nbsp;probably in February, like last year. That&rsquo;s their plan,&rdquo; Reznikov told The Guardian.
Both sides have ruled out a Christmas truce and there are currently no talks aimed at ending the conflict, Europe's largest since World War Two.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions more displaced and cities reduced to rubble since Russia invaded&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;on Feb. 24 in a "special military operation," saying it needed to protect&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;speakers from Ukrainian nationalists.&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;and its allies call it an unprovoked war of aggression.
With Russia's invasion in its 10th month, European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to provide 18 billion euros in financing to&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;next year and hit Moscow with a ninth package of sanctions. The measures designate nearly 200 more people and bar investment in Russia's mining industry, among other steps.
"Our joint determination to support&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;politically, financially, militarily and in the humanitarian area for as long as necessary remains unbroken," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said&nbsp;after talks among the 27 national EU leaders in Brussels.
In Washington, the U.S. military announced it will expand training in Germany of Ukrainian military personnel. Starting in January, 500 troops a month will be trained, building on more than 15,000 Ukrainians trained by the United States and its allies since April.
The programme is on top of those to teach Ukrainians to operate billions of dollars worth of specialised&nbsp;Western military equipment that the United States and its NATO allies have provided.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill for a record $858 billion defence budget next year, authorising $45 billion more than proposed by President Joe Biden. The bill, which Biden is&nbsp;expected&nbsp;to quickly sign into law, provides&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;at least $800 million in additional security assistance in 2023.
SHELLING IN KHERSON
Ukraine&nbsp;has repeatedly urged its allies to send more air defences to counter&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;missile bombardment including against its energy infrastructure.
Russia has fired barrages of missiles on&nbsp;Ukraine's energy infrastructure since October, disrupting power supplies and leaving people without heating in freezing winter conditions.
Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian troops repelled&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;infantry attacks in a number of locations in the Donetsk region including Bakhmut and Soledar,&nbsp;Ukraine's general staff said&nbsp;on Friday.
Russian&nbsp;military carried out 23 air strikes and four missile strikes as well as 78 bombardments using multiple rocket launchers, it said.
Ukraine's military General Staff said&nbsp;Russia's main focus remained on the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, but that it was also trying to get a stronger foothold in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.
It said&nbsp;that on December 14, Ukrainian forces destroyed a quantity of military equipment in the town of Tokmak, the Zaporizhzhia region, wounding about 180&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;troops.
Russia's state TASS&nbsp;news agency reported on Friday that at least eight people were killed and 23 injured by Ukrainian shelling in the village of Lantrativka in the Russia-controlled Luhansk region of&nbsp;Ukraine.
Reuters was unable to immediately verify the battlefield accounts.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the United States is finalising plans to offer&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;the Patriot missile defence system - one of the most advanced systems, and one which could require months of training.
The Kremlin said&nbsp;the United States was getting "deeper and deeper into the conflict" and that Patriot systems would be legitimate targets. Russia's foreign ministry said&nbsp;on Thursday this applied to all weapons supplied by the&nbsp;West.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Stephen Coates; Editing by Grant McCool and Michael Perry)

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