Russia to mobilise 300,000 new troops after losing 'maximum' amount in land grabbing bid, Zelenskyy warns
Ukraine's President said the Russians will end the year occupying the same amount of Ukrainian territory as at the beginning, despite huge losses of manpower.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia will likely mobilise a further 300,000 troops later this year after losing a "maximum" amount in its bid to advance deeper into eastern Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned.
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It comes as Moscow's forces press ahead with an effort to capture the rest of eastern Ukraine's industrialised Donbas region, where its troops have ground forward at what Kyiv says is a great cost.
But in wide-ranging remarks on Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy said the Russians are set to end the year occupying the same amount of Ukrainian territory as at the beginning, despite huge losses of manpower.
He said Moscow could draft more troops in 2027 to reach an overall goal of 500,000, part of what he described as a "peripheral mobilisation" targeting Russia's far-flung regions.
"We believe it will not take place in the central cities," Mr Zelenskyy said, adding: "But I don't think they will be able to hide it very well."
He added that Russia was losing a "maximum" amount of troops in its bid to advance into Ukraine's so-called fortress belt of eastern cities.
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Mr Zelenskyy also hailed recent gains by Kyiv's troops in southeastern Ukraine, adding that the amount of territory occupied by Russia and liberated by Ukrainian forces in 2026 would be equal.But he warned that Ukraine's war effort is further complicated by a $27 billion defence funding gap this year.
Mr Zelenskyy said this was due to higher-than-expected spending in the first half of the year.
At least $8 billion is needed for "a normal start" to 2027, he said, plus about $20 billion more for military salaries, payments to families of the dead, as well as other financing.
It comes as fighting rages around the strategic city of Kostiantynivka while Russia is bolstering its battlefield offensive with an escalating air war on Ukrainian cities.
This has been made worse by a Ukraine's critical shortage of US-designed Patriot interceptors.
Mr Zelenskyy said that the 264 interceptors Ukraine is expecting to have received in 2026 represent a significant drop from 2025, when Ukraine received 364, and 2023, when it received 675.
The Ukrainian president added that Russia was aiming to develop a capacity to produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles per year.
It comes as Ukraine faces another difficult winter of Russian strikes on its energy grid, prompting Kyiv's air force to ask for 360 missile interceptors for the season.
Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia in recent weeks with long-range missiles and swarms of drones hammering Vladimir Putin's military industries and energy facilities.
Ukraine has also targeted giant depots for Wildberries – Russia’s largest online retailer – burning billions of pounds of merchandise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Kyiv had opened "Pandora's box" by striking economic targets, warning Russia would hit back at Ukraine's "most sensitive economic sectors".
On Saturday night, at least 16 people died and 130 more were injured in Ukraine after several Russian drone strikes struck a shopping centre.
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha confirmed that 22 children were among the wounded and said nine people were preliminarily considered missing, including two children.