Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that the country’s forces are inflicting significant losses on Russian troops amid a counteroffensive in the eastern Donetsk region, the main battleground of the war now in its fourth year.
In his nightly video address on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he had received a detailed report from Ukraine’s top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, after a lengthy discussion focused on the ongoing military operation.
“I spoke for almost an hour with Commander Syrskyi, with particular attention on the Dobropillia operation, our counteroffensive,” Zelenskiy said. “Our troops are inflicting heavy casualties on the occupiers in this area.”
Dobropillia, located just north of Pokrovsk a key logistics hub has been one of the flashpoints in recent weeks as Russian forces continue their slow advance westward through Donetsk.
While describing Ukraine’s recent gains in the area, the president acknowledged that fighting remains fierce on several fronts. “We are defending ourselves along all other directions,” he said, singling out Kupiansk, a devastated northeastern town that has come under sustained Russian assault for months.
Zelenskiy also noted that conditions remained “difficult” around Novopavlivka, farther south in Zaporizhzhia region, but maintained that “our active defensive actions there are showing good results.”
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His account contrasted sharply with that of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, a day earlier, told senior officers near St. Petersburg that Moscow’s forces held “the strategic initiative in all frontline sectors.” Putin claimed that Russian troops had retaken nearly 5,000 square kilometres of territory in Ukraine this year and asserted that Ukrainian forces were retreating “in all directions.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry also announced on Wednesday that its troops had captured the village of Novohryhorivka in Zaporizhzhia region one of several settlements it claims to have seized in recent days.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian regional officials reported renewed civilian casualties from Russian strikes. The governor of Kherson region said three people were killed in attacks on Wednesday in and around the city, while in the northern Sumy region, drone strikes left three others dead in separate incidents.
Reuters noted that it could not independently verify the battlefield claims from either side.
The latest developments come as Germany moves to strengthen its domestic defences, with plans to grant police new authority to shoot down rogue drones amid growing fears of Russian hybrid warfare tactics.
