Zelenskyy says Russians fall behind their summer offensive plan
Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Getty Images)
Russian forces have fallen significantly behind their planned summer offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian President stated he held a meeting today with military officials, including Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
"Together with Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov, we discussed the situation in key defense directions – particularly the Pokrovsk direction, as well as the Novopavlivka direction, Zaporizhzhia region, Kharkiv region, and the border areas in the Sumy region," the statement said.
Photo: Zelenskyy meets with military leaders to discuss the frontline
Photo: Zelenskyy meets with military leaders to discuss the frontline
Zelenskyy noted Ukraine sees Russian attempts to develop offensive actions. Each attempt fails due to the resilience of Ukrainian forces. Additionally, Russians lag behind their planned advances.
"The Russian army has fallen far short of its command’s expectations for this summer. Our units will continue to destroy the enemy and do everything possible to bring the war onto Russian territory. We are preparing our new long-range strikes," Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian president added that Ukraine will respond with "unwavering severity" to every attack against Ukrainians. Syrskyi reported the destruction of Russian forces responsible for killing a one-year-old boy in the Kherson region.
Separately, Zelenskyy discussed preparations for the visit of Trump's special envoy, Keith Kellogg. He also reviewed cooperation with partners on arms supplies and scaling joint production of necessary defense equipment.
"Currently, around 40 percent of the weapons used for our defense are produced in Ukraine. Our objective is to increase this figure significantly – and, accordingly, our country’s defense self-sufficiency. In this context, the necessary changes will be implemented, including regulatory, financial, and personnel-related measures," the president concluded.
Russia allegedly prepares new offensive
Earlier, Bild reported that Russia's General Staff allegedly presented a plan for a second-half summer offensive to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The report claimed the Kremlin plans to deploy troops for the offensive from border areas, but first replace them with North Korean soldiers.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, later responded to this report.
"'The Kremlin is planning a new offensive' — it's hard to find anything more absurd than the material in BILD. They have no understanding of the front line or what's happening there. They read Telegram channels, often Russian ones, and then write articles that get quoted here," he said.
Kovalenko added that, according to Bild, they received this information from the Russian General Staff, which by itself raises doubts about its reliability.
