Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine needed new weapons and faster delivery to deal with the “very difficult” situation in the face of continued attacks by Russian forces in the eastern region of Donetsk.
“The situation is very difficult. Bakhmut, Vuhledar and other areas in the Donetsk region – there are constant Russian attacks. There are constant attempts to break our defenses,” Zelenskyy said. in his nightly video speech.
“Russia wants the war to drag on and exhaust our forces. So we have to spend time on our weapons. We have to speed up events, speed up supplies and open up options. choose new weapons for Ukraine.”
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said earlier on Sunday that its forces had repelled an attack near Blahodatne in the eastern part of the Donetsk region, while Russia’s private military group Wagner said. knew they had control of the village.
A military statement later made no mention of Blahodatne.
Zelenskyy made the latest call for increased arms shipments days after Germany and the United States led a list of countries agreeing to supply modern tanks.
Zelenskyy on Saturday said Ukraine needed US-made ATACMS missiles with a range of about 300 kilometers, which Washington has so far refused to provide. A presidential adviser said negotiations were underway on the supply of long-range missiles and a spokesman for the Ukrainian air force spoke of negotiations on the supply of aircraft.
In his latest remarks, Zelenskyy Ukraine’s commander pledged to ensure that “our pressure is greater than the offensive capabilities of the occupiers” and that means “maintaining defensive support from our partners.”
“The enemy doesn’t care about his manpower and despite the amount of damage, they still maintain the intensity of their attack,” he said.
“Facing this requires extraordinary resilience and the full realization of our soldiers that in defending the Donetsk region, they are protecting the whole of Ukraine.”
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Nick Starkov)
