Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to meet Trump as Russia focuses on Donetsk offensive

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Russia is expanding aerial attacks to compensate for its nonaccomplishment to ace Ukrainian defences connected the ground, according to Kyiv.

“Russia has started a caller question of aerial panic against Ukraine – against our cities and civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO’s 71st Parliamentary Assembly connected October 13.

Russia ‘increased the fig of aerial onslaught means’

On the battlefront, too, Russia was turning to the air.

“In a month, the force has accrued the fig of aerial onslaught means utilized by 1.3 times,” wrote Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii connected his Telegram transmission connected Saturday.

Syrskii mostly refers to Russian first-person presumption (FPV) drones and air-launched glide bombs, which Russia uses astatine the beforehand successful summation to artillery and aggregate motorboat rocket systems.

But Russia was progressively utilizing its long-range Shahed drones – the benignant it deploys against cities – to deed targets astatine the beforehand arsenic well, said the Kyiv Independent aft speaking with analysts.

Shaheds are much precise than glide bombs, and Russia was “likely looking to conserve KAB guided aerial bombs wherever imaginable to hole for a agelong warfare ahead”, said the newspaper.

An Orthodox clergyman blesses Russian conscripts called up for subject work during a ceremonial marking the departure for garrisons from a recruitment centre successful Saint Petersburg, Russia, October 15, 2025. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Russia’s tactics prompted a flurry of consultations with allies.

On the time of the monolithic aerial strike, Zelenskyy said helium spoke with United States President Donald Trump astir the harm to Ukraine’s vigor assemblage and what the federation needs to support it. During the week, helium besides spoke with the leaders of Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, and the European Union’s overseas argumentation chief, Kaja Kallas.

Zelenskyy said helium is abbreviated of aerial defences and has asked allies to summation provisions to support 203 cardinal facilities successful Ukraine.

At Wednesday’s gathering of the Defence Contact Group for Ukraine, Germany pledged 2.3 cardinal euros ($2.7bn) successful caller weapons and aerial defence systems, including interceptors for Patriot launchers and 2 much IRIS-T systems.

Poland offered energy exports, generators and the services of a liquefied earthy gas (LNG) terminal to bolster Ukraine’s vigor supply.

Zelenskyy dispatched Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to the US to laic the groundwork for his gathering with Trump connected Friday.

Russia’s combat for Donetsk

On the ground, Zelenskyy said this week that Russia had planned to seizure the entirety of the Donetsk portion this autumn. About a 4th of it remains successful Ukraine’s hands.

The hammer has fallen hardest connected Pokrovsk, erstwhile a metropolis of 60,000 people. Russia has failed to instrumentality it by nonstop battle and by conducting an enveloping manoeuvre done Dobropillia to its north.

Syrskii said a Ukrainian counteroffensive astatine Dobropillia had retaken 181sq km (70sq miles) of territory since the extremity of August.

The Dobropillia counteroffensive caused 12,000 Russian casualties, including 7,000 deaths, and upset Russia’s plans to conquer Donetsk this autumn, Zelenskyy claimed.

Al Jazeera was incapable to independently verify the decease toll estimated by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s cognition “disrupted each the plans that the Russians communicated to the American side, claiming they would supposedly inhabit the Donbas – astir of it – specifically by November. Initially, they said September, past pushed the deadline to November”, said Zelenskyy.

Russia’s determination to seizure Donetsk was evident successful the information that it had returned to high-casualty mechanised assaults connected October 6, 9 and 13, said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, having largely stopped reinforced company-sized mechanised assaults successful precocious 2024.

All 3 assaults came successful the Dobropillia absorption and were defeated with precocious losses to men and armour.

“The Russians are present tasked with urgently taking Pokrovsk – astatine immoderate cost,” Zelenskyy said, and immoderate analysts suggested they whitethorn beryllium swinging to the southbound of Pokrovsk instead.

Russia has not been wholly without success. During the week of October 9-15, it claimed to person seized 4 villages successful Donetsk, and settlements successful Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk.

In Kharkiv, Zelenskyy said, Ukrainian forces were pushing Russian troops retired of immoderate positions successful the metropolis of Kupiansk, successful whose northwestern outskirts they person taken positions.

Despite this, Ukrainian authorities connected Wednesday evacuated hundreds of families from 27 villages successful the Kupiansk area, citing the information situation.

Ukraine’s strikes and Tomahawks

Ukraine continued a successful campaign to choke disconnected Russian substance production.

Its drones struck Lukoil’s Korobkovsky Gas Processing Plant successful the Volgograd portion of Russia connected October 9.

“The works is portion of the substance proviso strategy for the home marketplace of the Russian Federation, arsenic good arsenic for export,” said Andriy Kovalenko, caput of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

On Monday, Ukraine struck the lipid depot astatine the larboard of Feodosia successful Crimea, confirmed the region’s concern head, Sergey Aksyonov. It is utilized to proviso Russian occupying troops successful Crimea, Zaporizhia and Kharkiv with substance by rail.

Russian absorption quality outlet Astra said the strikes damaged 11 substance tanks, including 8 5,000-10,000-tonne diesel tanks and 2 petrol tanks.

Geolocated footage confirmed the attack, arsenic good arsenic strikes connected 2 energy substations successful Feodosia and Simferopol, besides successful Crimea.

“This is perfectly just that Ukraine strikes backmost with precise, targeted attacks,” said Zelenskyy.

The Financial Times reported connected Sunday that Ukraine has not been conducting these operations alone.

Several US and Ukrainian officials told the regular that Washington has been providing quality for the targeting of Russian refineries for months.

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“The displacement came aft a telephone telephone betwixt Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy successful July, erstwhile the FT reported the US president asked whether Ukraine could onslaught Moscow if Washington provided long-range weapons,” wrote the paper.

The sources said the US was progressive successful people selection, timing and way readying to evade Russian aerial defences.

Ukraine has truthful acold mostly utilized its domestically produced drones, and Zelenskyy past period asked Trump to supply US Tomahawk cruise missiles, with a scope of up to 2,500km (1,550 miles)

The contented is to beryllium among those discussed betwixt Trump and Zelenskyy connected Friday.

Russia’s lawman president of its National Security Council warned against the deployment of Tomahawks, which are nuclear-capable.

“The transportation of those missiles would not beryllium bully for anyone. First and foremost, it volition extremity severely for Trump himself,” warned Dmitry Medvedev successful a written post.

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