Vladimir Putin is due to speak to Russians directly tonight in his biggest speech since the nation invaded Ukraine.
The Russian President is expected to order the full mobilisation of his country's military which could see up to two million reservists scrambled to join his operation.
The unusual move comes just as as pro-Russian authorities in the Donbas region revealed they will hold referendums on joining Russia this week.
Both regions in eastern Ukraine are expected to hold votes between September 23 and 27.
Just yesterday, it was confirmed Ukraine had reclaimed both banks of a key river in what was described as a huge breakthrough in the conflict.
Ukraine said it pushed Moscow’s forces away from the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region where it had recaptured large areas of land in recent weeks.
The river is strategically important because it flows south through Luhansk province, part of the heavily contested eastern Donbas area.
Now, Russian state media publication RBC says Putin will speak later today "regarding referendums in the territories of the LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions".
Exactly what he will say remains unknown, but the address will be his first such speech since the eve of the conflict on February 24, and his defence minister Sergei Shoigu is expected to join him.
It comes after his propagandist Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief of state-run RT, claimed that the country is on the brink of a nuclear war.
"Judging by what is happening and still about to happen, this week marks either the eve of our imminent victory or the eve of nuclear war," she wrote on Twitter.
It's thought Putin will address the planned referendums in the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
These four states are crucial because they form a land corridor between Ukraine's eastern border with Russia and the annexed territory of Crimea, which Putin's army seized back in 2014.
As part of the referendums, people will be asked if they want to become part of Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence has warned that Putin's propaganda may be preparing the people for full mobilisation in Ukraine.
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi from Ukraine's Ministry of Defence told the Kyiv Post: "Today we have started collecting information; this mobilisation-related information rhetoric in the Russian Federation has greatly increased."
He added that Russian politicians were claiming that "the Russian army cannot cope, it is necessary to declare war and mobilise".
So far, at least 25,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in action in Ukraine with another 55,000 injured, captured or lost to desertion, Defence Minister Ben Wallace said.
And Warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Chechnya, previously called for every Russian provincial leader to pull together 1,000 volunteers to join the fight.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that all fighting-age men between the ages of 18 and 65 will be banned from leaving Russia, and the occupied territories in Ukraine, from midnight tonight.
