The Ukraine war is poised to escalate into a more devastating and lethal stage with an enormous price tag.

• Ukrainian cities are being targeted by Russian forces using "indiscriminate" heavy weaponry such as artillery.
• While Russia concentrates on military exercises in open terrain, the Ukrainians have been readying themselves for urban combat in cities.
• The outcome of Kyiv may depend on the Ukrainians' capacity to acquire more weapons from the West and stop a massive Russian column moving towards the city from the north.

The next phase of the war in Ukraine is likely to result in a significant loss as Russia employs larger, more indiscriminate weapons to attack cities and prepares for intense urban combat.

Russian forces are resorting to artillery to bombard cities that are being encircled, according to retired U.S. Army Col. Jack Jacobs, who spoke on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

According to Jacobs, the Russians plan to intensify their use of indirect fire on population centers, with a focus on Kyiv, utilizing weapons that don't require a direct line of sight on the target, such as artillery, to destroy vast areas.

The Russians "didn't want to take the city intact," according to Jacobs, so they will use rockets, artillery, missiles, and other indirect fire to subdue the Ukrainians in the city and then attempt to move in.

The war will shift from a Russian advantage to a Ukrainian advantage, but it will also become more deadly as it takes place in urban areas.

While Russia's military training emphasizes operations in open terrain, the Ukrainians, including many civilians, have been preparing for a door-to-door fight in cities.

From the start, the Ukrainians understood that their success may depend on their capacity to eliminate Russian troops in densely populated regions, as Jacobs, a veteran of urban combat in Vietnam, explained.

‘Enormous cost’

Unfortunately, if that scenario were to occur, it would result in a horrific cost to Ukraine's cities, which are still filled with civilians despite many having fled.

According to John Spencer, an urban warfare expert at the Modern War Institute at the U.S. Military Academy, when Russian soldiers mass in cities, the situation will deteriorate.

Spencer stated to NBC that the Russians cannot capture Kyiv through air raids alone; they must deploy ground troops.

Putin has shown a personal inclination to obliterate a city, regardless of its location, in order to accomplish his political objectives.

In 1999, as Russian prime minister, Putin launched a violent military operation in Chechnya to maintain Moscow's control over the province. The campaign resulted in the devastation of Grozny, the capital, with thousands of civilians losing their lives.

"Putin may face challenges in reversing his actions, which could result in significant consequences for Ukraine, Russia, and allies," according to Jacobs.

According to a U.K. Ministry of Defence update released Tuesday, other major cities in Ukraine are likely already encircled by Russian forces.

Russian forces have encircled the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mariupol, which are still being held by Ukrainian forces, the ministry stated.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's government announced that Kharkiv, its second-largest city with a population of approximately 1.5 million people, was experiencing increasing shelling from Russian forces, according to NBC News.

On Tuesday, 10 people were killed and 35 were injured in Kharkiv due to Russian rockets, as stated by Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry, in a social media post.

Stopping the convoy

A 40-mile Russian column is advancing from the north towards Kyiv, aiming to join forces from the south and encircle the capital.

Despite their strong opposition, Ukrainian forces have been unable to drive away Russian invaders north of Kyiv due to a lack of air support.

The fight around the convoy is crucial for the Ukrainians and Kyiv. According to Jacobs, it's imperative that more Western weapons reach the Ukrainians before they are isolated.

The Ukrainians can stop the convoy if they have enough weapons, allowing them to get resupplied by the West, according to him.