Ukraine facing ‘one of the most powerful’ Russian offensives of the war, commander warns, as Moscow claims gains in east

Ukraine’s army chief has warned that his forces are facing “one of the most powerful Russian offensives” since the start of the war as Russia claimed it captured more settlements on the eastern frontline.

Russia has steadily been making gains in the eastern Donbas region, which Russia’s President Vladimir Putin aims to capture in full. Reuters, citing open source data, reported that Russia has been advancing at its fastest pace in at least a year.

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the situation on the front line “remains difficult” and certain areas “require constant renewal of resources of Ukrainian units” in a statement on Telegram Saturday morning.

Kyiv’s forces, he said, are “holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.”

Over the weekend, Russia claimed the capture of two settlements in the Donetsk region - Kurakhivka and Vyshneve. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed either claim.

Vyshneve is close to Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the east and a major target of the Russian offensive.

Meanwhile Russian drone attacks continue, with Ukraine bracing for what could be a difficult winter with energy infrastructure already badly hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched over 50 drone attacks at Ukraine overnight into Sunday. Over the past week, Russia has dropped more than 900 bombs on Ukraine, and launched about 30 missiles and nearly 500 Shahed drones in various regions of Ukraine, he added.

Most of the strikes were directed against civilian objects and critical infrastructure, the statement said.

Zelensky spent recent weeks trying to drum up additional support but has so far been unable to secure consent to fire deeper into Russia.

He repeated his plea for Western aid, adding in the statement that “all of these strikes would not have been possible if we had sufficient support from the world.”

Zelensky warned that “Russia is gradually increasing this activity” and added that Moscow still has the ability to “use Western components for this purpose.”

“All this is supplied to Russia from abroad,” Zelensky continued. “And unfortunately, it comes from companies in China, Europe, and America - a lot of micro-contributions to the constant Russian terror.”

The developments come at a precarious time for Ukraine.

The US presidential election next week will determine America’s policy on Ukraine, which currently stands at a crossroads. If elected, Kamala Harris is expected to largely continue the supportive policies of the Biden administration. Taking a drastically different position, Donald Trump has suggested he will end support for Kyiv’s war effort and claimed he could settle the war “in one day.”

Meanwhile, Russia is understood to be bolstering its manpower with North Korean troops. As many as 8,000 North Korean troops are in Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days, top US officials announced this week.

CNN’s Lauren Kent contributed to this report.

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