Tuesday saw an increase in Russian attacks along the front lines, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also demanded that the West increase its arms supply in preparation for winter.
Zelensky and the Kremlin have claimed that the fight has come to a standstill, despite the fact that neither side has gained any appreciable progress in months.
“The military reported an increase in the number of enemy assaults,” Zelensky said in a post on social media, saying Russians were attacking around the cities of Donetsk, Kupyansk and Avdiivka.
Zelensky has warned Russia is likely to increase air strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of the winter, as it did this time last year.
Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Monday to press Ukraine’s need to keep the flow of Western weapons coming.
“As winter approaches, we expect the Russian missile terror to intensify,” Yermak said in a post on Telegram after the meeting.
“Therefore, we are in dire need of air and missile defence systems that will protect Ukrainian cities, key critical infrastructure facilities, and grain corridor routes,” he said.
Tuesday’s rocket and artillery assaults on Kherson, according to Zelensky, were “without any military necessity” and were motivated by “revenge”.
Russian strikes on Kherson, which Ukraine reclaimed from Russian forces a year ago, resulted in three fatalities and at least 12 injuries on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
