Ukraine believes the Kremlin is preparing to conscript another 300,000 soldiers for its war against Ukraine after Russia’s parliamentary elections in mid-September, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Russian forces are continuing their push to seize the remaining parts of the Donbas, Ukraine’s heavily industrialized eastern region, advancing slowly in a campaign Kyiv says has come at an enormous human cost.
Speaking to reporters in remarks released Sunday, Zelensky said Moscow could launch another round of recruitment in 2027 as it works toward an overall target of 500,000 additional personnel. He described the effort as a form of “peripheral mobilization” aimed largely at Russia’s distant regions.
“We believe it will not take place in the central cities,” Zelensky said. “But I don’t think they will be able to hide it very well.”
Russia’s parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place from September 18 to 20.
With intense battles continuing near the strategic city of Kostiantynivka, Zelensky said Russia was suffering “maximum” troop losses as it tries to break into Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt of eastern cities.
The Ukrainian leader also pointed to recent advances by Kyiv’s forces in southeastern Ukraine, saying the amount of territory Russia occupies and the land Ukrainian troops liberate in 2026 would be equal.
RUSSIA RAMPING UP MISSILE OUTPUT, ZELENSKY SAYS
At the same time, Russia is reinforcing its ground offensive with an intensifying air campaign against Ukrainian cities, a threat worsened by Ukraine’s severe shortage of US-designed Patriot interceptors.
Zelensky said 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.
He added that Russia was aiming to develop a capacity to produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles per year.
Over the summer, Ukraine has escalated a campaign of drone strikes targeting Russian economic infrastructure, including oil refineries and online retailers’ warehouses, seeking to destroy infrastructure it says is central to Russia’s war effort.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments on Saturday that Kyiv had opened “Pandora’s box” by striking economic targets, saying Russia would hit back at Ukraine’s “most sensitive economic sectors.”
UKRAINE BRACES FOR NEW ENERGY STRIKES, FACES FUNDING GAP
Zelensky said Ukraine was facing another difficult winter of Russian strikes on its energy grid, a prospect that had prompted Kyiv’s air force to ask for 360 missile interceptors for the season.
He also said he had reached an agreement with France on at least one SAMP/T air-defense system this year, and with Germany on the supply of about 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors through 2028.
Ukraine’s war effort is further complicated by a $27 billion defense funding gap this year, Zelensky said, a result of higher-than-expected spending in the first half of the year.
At least $8 billion is needed for “a normal start” to 2027, plus about $20 billion more for military salaries, payments to families of the dead, as well as other financing, he added.
