Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive near the Pokrovsk region.The Ukrainian leader said he seeks a meeting with Trump and European allies next week.US at the UN casts doubts on the “seriousness of Russia’s desire for peace.”The French president raises concerns of Trump being “played” by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv is seeking a fresh meeting with US President Donald Trump and European allies as soon as next week after telling reporters that Russia is poised to launch a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.
“The concentration [of Russian troops] there is up to 100,000,” Zelenskyy said on August 29, referring to the front lines near the highly strategic city Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk, in Ukraine’s southern Donetsk region, had a prewar population of 60,000. Most have fled as Russian forces have besieged the mining town for months but have been unable to break the defensive lines and capture the city.
Rescuers conduct a search and rescue operation in and around a residential building heavily damaged during a large-scale Russian attack on Kyiv on
Russian Strike On Kyiv Kills 22 People In A Single Building
Shortly after Zelenskyy made the remarks, the head of the regional military administration in nearby Dnipropetrovsk said the region was under “massive attack.”
Serhiy Lysak wrote on Telegram that “explosions are being heard. There are strikes in Dnipro and Pavlohrad,” but he added that details were not yet available.
Authorities in Zaporizhzhya reported that region was also under attack early on August 30 with likely casualties.
The comments came after Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov boasted about his country’s military effort in Ukraine, despite years of high casualties and a major drain on the Russian economy.
Belousov also praised Russia’s campaign of deadly missile and drone strikes on Ukraine — attacks that have killed thousands of civilians and been widely condemned by the international community.
The Russian defense chief said 35 aerial assaults against 146 strategically important sites so far this year have caused severe damage to Ukraine’s military infrastructure. Those remarks came a day after Ukraine mourned the loss of 22 people, including four children, in one building alone that had collapsed in a Russian strike on Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials want to meet with Trump and European allies next week amid struggling efforts to bring about a cease-fire and eventual end to the all-out war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
A 2022 Google Earth satellite image shows the Rogachevo air base on the Russian archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, not far from the Pankovo missile test site.
Meanwhile, Russian forces are pressing ahead in eastern Ukraine, making incremental but closely watched advances in the Donetsk region as the Trump administration struggles to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv.
The most visible push came earlier this month near the town of Dobropillya, in northern Donetsk, where Russian troops surged forward on two prongs resembling bunny ears.
That maneuver captured headlines as Russia’s fastest advance in months, but military experts say the gains have not translated into firm control. Ukrainian defenses have blunted further progress, and Moscow has struggled to consolidate positions.
“Their task is not to fight the Ukrainians head-on, but to push as far forward as possible… in the hope that someone breaks through,” military analyst Alexei Alshansky told The Moscow Times. “It results in heavy losses.”
An independent count by the exiled news outlet Mediazona and the BBC’s Russian service put confirmed Russian military deaths above 120,000, though the real toll is believed to be much higher.
Russia already controls about 70% of Donetsk, including the regional capital seized by pro-Kremlin separatist forces in 2014. What remains in Ukrainian hands carries enormous strategic weight, which many believe is the reason President Vladimir Putin is pressing for Kyiv to relinquish it as part of a possible peace agreement.
