Russia likely to mobilise at least 300,000 more troops, Zelenskyy claims, highlighting Ukraine's winter air defence needs

According to CNN, Zelenskyy stated that he expected the Russians would end the year occupying the same amount of Ukrainian territory as at the beginning of the year, despite enormous losses of manpower.

"Russia has lost 267,000 personnel since the start of the year, including around 155,000 killed to date," Zelensky claimed, as cited by CNN.

Furthermore, Zelensky indicated that Putin would "deploy the 300,000 newly mobilized troops depending on the situation in the east of our country," having instructed his military leadership to complete the occupation of Donetsk by year's end.

"They'll lose all 300,000 of these newly mobilised Russians there; we'll wipe them out," Zelensky asserted, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy, in a series of posts on X, detailed the strategic calculations behind long-range operations targeting Russian logistics and commercial infrastructure, while emphasising shifting domestic sentiment within Russia and issuing an urgent international plea for critical air defence systems.

Zelenskyy further claimed internal Ukrainian assessments show that over 60% of Russian society now favours an end to the war, noting that opposition party support was rising before candidates were barred from ballots.

"Many people in Russia want the war to end. They put it this way: they just want it to end. In our view, the statistics are as follows: more than 60% of Russian society wants an end to this war, a ceasefire. So this shows that public sentiment is moving in that direction, and the trends are clear. We have also seen a sharp decline in support for Putin's government. We are talking about United Russia," he said.

"They removed Yabloko from the election because they expected Yabloko to get a maximum of 3% or 4%, and then they looked at public sentiment, and there it was immediately at 11-12%, with an upward trend," Zelenskyy stated. "They struck them off the ballot simply to ensure there would be no alternative to the war and to his rule."

His remarks come as Russia's Supreme Court, earlier this month, annulled the opposition Yabloko party's registration for the country's parliamentary elections, scheduled for September. The court ruling, which effectively eliminates the only officially registered political party opposed to Moscow's war in Ukraine, followed a lawsuit filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist Rodina party seeking Yabloko's removal, according to Euronews.

Addressing the escalation of long-range operations, Zelenskyy explained that ongoing strikes against logistics networks, including the e-commerce giant Wildberries, were direct responses to continuous Russian attacks on Ukrainian civil infrastructure, logistics, and postal providers like Ukrposhta and Nova Poshta.

"Why, in particular, do we strike Wildberries? Because it involves both the supply of military goods and big money for Russia. Our operation was very carefully calculated," Zelenskyy stated, noting that direct losses from that single operation reached roughly one trillion rubles, escalating to three trillion rubles when factoring in corporate debts and operational restructuring," he stated.

To counter Russia's expanding air campaign targeting Ukrainian logistics and civilian infrastructure ahead of the winter, Zelenskyy issued a renewed plea to Western partners for air defence interceptors, specifically targeting Patriot missile stockpiles.

"We have become quite effective at intercepting other types of missiles. Our combat aircraft are doing so, and we have more IRIS-T systems now - the relevant systems are in place, and missiles for them are arriving to counter Russian cruise missiles. We have Hawks as well - we are using many different systems to intercept cruise missiles. But ballistic missiles are ballistic missiles. We are now working to ensure that they do not reach those 1,300 - to reduce that number," Zelenskyy stated.

Highlighting a severe budget shortfall facing the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence and the need to intercept Russian ballistic missiles before winter, Zelenskyy urged international allies to accelerate military funding and supply shipments.

"In addition, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine currently has a budget shortfall of $27 billion....I wanted to secure 300 missiles for the Patriot systems as part of the winter package. The request from our Air Force is for 360. But when only 600 are produced a year, 360 is not easy to obtain... And I would very much like to believe that we can find a way to access some small percentage of U.S. stockpiles -- say, 5% or 10%. And we are ready to pay for those supplies," he emphasised.

On the other hand, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Ukraine is facing a "catastrophic scenario" resulting from Russian retaliatory operations after it "opened Pandora's box" by targeting economic and civilian infrastructure, according to Russia Today.

Further, Putin said that Kyiv is actively seeking backchannel contacts to attempt to "prevent this situation from developing into a catastrophic scenario," while asserting that their current trajectory remains evident, RT reported. (ANI)