Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Regains Territory in Multiple Offensives Against Russia
Ukraine Offensives highlighted by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy amid continued fighting with Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces were regaining territory through several offensives, including a previously undisclosed operation in which troops used underground gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions.
In his nightly video address on Tuesday, Zelenskiy described Ukraine’s battlefield position as its strongest in some time during the nearly four-and-a-half-year war. He said additional air defence systems from Western allies could strengthen the country’s position further.
Citing a report from senior military commanders, Zelenskiy disclosed details of an operation called Veles in northeastern Ukraine. He also referred to an air assault in the east and Operation Vivaldi farther north, which aimed to prevent Russian advances in strategically important areas.
Ukraine Uses Pipeline Infrastructure Near Kupiansk
Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces conducted Operation Veles near Kupiansk, a city in the Kharkiv region that Ukraine recaptured in late 2022. Russian forces have continued to exert pressure on the area.
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He described the operation as carefully planned and technology-driven. According to Zelenskiy, Russian troops had attempted to use underground gas pipelines to move beyond Ukrainian defensive positions.
“ Our fighters turned this tactic against the Russians and used the underground infrastructure against the occupiers with extraordinary success,” Zelenskiy said.
The Ukrainian president presented the operation as an example of his forces adapting to Russian tactics. Independent confirmation of the operation’s reported results was not provided in the account.
Vivaldi Operation Targets Russian Infiltration
Operation Vivaldi has focused on areas north of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, two key Ukrainian strongholds in Donbas.
A senior Ukrainian commander reported last month that the country’s Third Army Corps had cleared Russian infiltration groups from an area covering 75 square kilometres. The commander also reported that Ukrainian forces had recaptured another 10 square kilometres.
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk form part of the area often described as Ukraine’s eastern fortress belt. Their capture would bring Russian forces closer to their stated objective of taking control of the entire Donbas region.
In August, Zelenskiy also reported gains in a separate offensive farther south, saying Ukrainian forces had returned 26 villages to Kyiv’s control.
Russia and Ukraine Dispute Battlefield Claims
Russia continues to say it wants an overall settlement to the war rather than a temporary ceasefire. Moscow has also pledged to continue its campaign to capture the entire Donbas region.
Russian military commanders have repeatedly reported advances along sections of the roughly 1,200-kilometre front line. Russia’s Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said this month that Russian forces had captured 92 Ukrainian settlements since the beginning of September, including Dobropillia.
Ukraine’s military rejected the Russian claims.
The competing statements underline the continuing difficulty of independently verifying battlefield developments. Both sides regularly announce advances, while the wider conflict remains focused on control of territory, defensive positions and critical infrastructure.
Zelenskiy’s latest remarks also renewed Kyiv’s call for additional Western air defence support, which he said could help strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend its territory.
