Ukraine Preparing for New Russian Assault on Donbas, Zelenskyy Says

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to “fight for every metre” of Ukrainian land, saying his forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the eastern Donbas region as Moscow amasses troops there.

Zelenskyy, in his nightly video address to the nation on Wednesday, said Ukraine is at a “turning point” in the five-week war with Russia and again urged Western nations to send more weapons.

ians, driven about a quarter of Ukrainians from their homes and brought Russian-Western tensions to their worst point since the Cold War.

Tough resistance by Ukrainian forces has prevented Russia from capturing any major city, including the capital, Kyiv, where a Russian armed column was held back for weeks. At peace talks this week in Istanbul, Russia said it would curtail operations near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to build trust in the negotiations.

But Ukraine and its Western allies, including the United States, dismissed Russia’s pledge as a ploy to stem its losses and prepare for other attacks. Russia says its forces are regrouping to focus on “liberating” the breakaway eastern Donbas region.

In his address, Zelenskyy referred to Russian troop movements away from Kyiv and Chernihiv, saying that was not a withdrawal but “the consequence of our defenders’ work”.

Ukraine is seeing “a build-up of Russian forces for new attacks on the Donbas and we are preparing for that”, he said, adding that Ukrainians “won’t give up anything and we’ll fight for every metre of our land, for every citizen”.

Moscow has cultivated close ties with pro-Russian separatists controlling swaths of Donbas, which encompasses two self-proclaimed “people’s republics” that Russia says it is helping to free from Ukrainian control.

In his address, Zelenskyy referred to Russian troop movements away from Kyiv and Chernihiv, saying that was not a withdrawal but “the consequence of our defenders’ work”.

Ukraine is seeing “a build-up of Russian forces for new attacks on the Donbas and we are preparing for that”, he said, adding that Ukrainians “won’t give up anything and we’ll fight for every metre of our land, for every citizen”.

Moscow has cultivated close ties with pro-Russian separatists controlling swaths of Donbas, which encompasses two self-proclaimed “people’s republics” that Russia says it is helping to free from Ukrainian control.

‘Complete lie’
Earlier on Wednesday, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin said offensive operations were intensifying.

“We are well aware that the longer it takes us to liberate our territory, those settlements that are now under control of Ukraine, the more victims and destruction there will be,” he said.

Donetsk includes the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has seen some of the war’s heaviest fighting and bombardment and where some 170,000 people are trapped with scarce food and water.

“We cook what we find among neighbours. A bit of cabbage, a bit more of potatoes, we’ve found tomato paste, some beetroot,” former steelworker Viktor told Reuters. They cook using a rudimentary barbecue and sleep in a basement, which he termed their “peaceful oasis”.

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