Russia Zelensky and Putin press ahead with armaments

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Western partners to speed up the promised deliveries to strengthen the country's air defense.

"Not all the promises on air defense made at the summit in Washington have yet been implemented," he warned in his evening video address. However, he said that it was particularly important to have an efficient air defense system at the beginning of autumn in view of the systematic Russian attacks against energy and heat supplies.

Selensky once again spoke out against freezing the conflict. Ukraine and the whole of Europe needed security in the long term. This could only be achieved through a just peace.

He did not go into detail about the situation on the front. Right at the beginning, he praised the drone attack on an ammunition depot near the small north-western Russian town of Toropez.

According to media reports, a Ukrainian drone attack had caused a series of explosions at the depot the night before. Due to the fire spreading to the nearby town of Toropez, residents had to be evacuated to safety. According to the authorities, several people were injured.

Selenskyj: Everything is going according to plan in Kursk

According to him, the fighting in the western Russian region of Kursk, where Moscow troops attempted to counter the Ukrainian counter-offensive, is going according to Kiev's plan. According to independent military observers, the Ukrainians were indeed able to stop the Russian attacks for the time being. However, it is unclear whether the subsequent Ukrainian advance to encircle Russian troops was successful.

He promised the defenders of the cities of Pokrovsk, Torezk and Kurakhove in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, who were under pressure from Russian troops, that they would soon be reinforced. According to him, new brigades have now been formed, although they are not yet fully equipped with weapons.

Heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine

In its evening situation report, the General Staff in Kiev described the fighting, especially between Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, as heavy. More than half of the over 150 Russian attack attempts of the day had taken place in this section of the front. Several of these attacks were still ongoing, it was reported.

Putin holds meeting on the state of the military and armaments sector

Meanwhile, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin held a video conference with high-ranking military officers and officials from the arms industry. In it, he also explained the recent order to increase the number of troops. This was necessary for the new military districts, he said. New soldiers who are well trained in weapons are needed for the new units being created there. "It was precisely to solve this task that the decree on determining the number of troops in the armed forces was published a few days ago," said Putin.

On Monday, Putin issued a decree ordering the armed forces to be increased to around 2.4 million men, including 1.5 million soldiers - the third time the military's target strength has been increased since the attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

Reaction to NATO expansion

The Kremlin announced the creation of new military districts for the Leningrad region - the Soviet name Leningrad is still used in Russia for the area around St. Petersburg - and Moscow at the end of 2023. This is accompanied by the establishment of new military bases and troop units. At the time, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov justified the need for the military districts with the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, among other things. Gerasimov did not address the trigger for these events, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

In the video conference, Putin called for further armament and militarization. In future, he announced, the Russian army would no longer receive new modern weapons piecemeal, but in series. The Kremlin leader, who plans to visit a weapons factory in St. Petersburg on Thursday, said that the findings from the war should also be used in the weapons forges and missile laboratories.

SDA