Zelenskyy Claims Ukraine Made Russia's Troops Battered On Donetsk's Frontline

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy/PHOTO via X @ZelenskyyUa

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it claimed Ukrainian forces caused heavy losses in retaliatory attacks in eastern Donetsk territory, the main battlefield in Ukraine that has lasted more than 3.5 years.

Zelenskyy's remarks, based on the report of Ukraine's top commander, differed from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's speech to senior Russian officers the day before, which stated Moscow forces were taking strategic initiatives in all front-line sectors.

Zelenskyy said he spoke for nearly an hour to Supreme Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, with special attention to Dobropillia's operations, a counter-attack.

He described the large number of victims in the region.

Ukraine is showing success in Dobropillia, just north of the Pokrovsk logistics center, one of the main targets in Russia's slow forward movement to the west through the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian troops, Zelenskyy said, "maintained in all directions," referring in particular to Kupiansk, a city largely destroyed in northeastern Ukraine due to months of intense Russian attacks.

He also described the conditions around Novopavlivka, further south in the Zaporizhia region, as "difficult", but said "our active defense measures there showed good results".

Reuters was unable to independently verify warfield reports from both sides.

Putin told senior officers on Tuesday Russia had reclaimed nearly 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles) of territory in Ukraine by 2025.

Putin said Ukrainian troops were stepping down in all front-line sectors and although Kyiv tried to strike deep into Russian territory, it would not help.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had taken control of Novohryhorivka village in the southern Zaporizhia region, which is the latest announcement of a series of announcements almost daily about newly captured settlements.

The governor of the Kherson region of southern Ukraine said the Russian attack on Wednesday killed three people in and around the city of the same name.

And the governor of the Sumy region, on the northern border with Russia, said three people were killed in Russian drone attacks in various districts.