Zelenskyy Orders Military to Triple Daily Long-Range Strikes on Russia as Putin Faces Troop Crisis

Kyiv, Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has ordered his military to increase its long-range drone strikes against Russia to 1,000 per day, up from about 300 currently, as western officials report that Russia is losing 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit.

"There needs to be more: there is a concrete goal, and we will fulfil this task," the Ukrainian president declared on Friday in his evening address.

Russia's gasoline production fell to about 70% of domestic consumption levels by the end of August after a series of drone attacks forced major refineries to suspend operations, according to two industry sources who spoke to Reuters. After a brief respite at the end of July, when some local authorities began easing or lifting restrictions on fuel sales, shortages returned to Russian regions in August. Over the past week, drones struck and halted operations at several major refineries, including plants in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod and Yaroslavl, all significant producers of motor gasoline.

Russia is losing about 6,000 more troops in Ukraine each month than it can recruit, western officials have said. While Russia is still acquiring new battlefield recruits at speed, with an estimated rate of 1,000 a day, in the past two months even this has not been sufficient to replace those killed or injured.

"We estimate that the gap between the number of people Russia is losing to casualties and the number they're being able to recruit is around 6,000 a month at the moment," one western official said.

Russia's Troop Crisis

"Putin's response to this has been to escalate himself and to target civilian infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine, firing over 360 missiles since early July and exploiting Kyiv's shortage of defence against ballistic missiles. It's clear that Moscow intends to try and break Ukrainian morale by destroying its energy infrastructure this winter."

Such tactics are in part because Putin has limited options for overcoming the huge losses on the battlefield with more recruitment.

Western officials believe further mobilisation would be a big risk both politically and economically, saying the last such event, in autumn 2022, saw about a million – often highly skilled – Russians leave the country, with less than half returning.

It is also unclear whether the Russian military could absorb the several hundred thousand new recruits which would result, given a lack of equipment and officers.

UK Support and Russian Threats

Andy Burnham visited Kyiv on his first overseas trip as prime minister this week. He told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the UK would give Ukraine previously classified information on the British-manufactured components for long-range cruise missiles.

Burnham has also urged the international community to do more to protect Ukraine against Russian attacks, particularly with more US-made Patriot interceptor missiles. He is expected to make this argument at next month's UN general assembly in New York.

In response, Russia has made repeated threats of retaliation, including talk of attacks on UK military targets both inside and outside Ukraine.

The western officials said that while the threat from Russia remained very real, the situation had not changed, and the assessment was that "Putin absolutely wants to avoid a direct confrontation with Nato".

NATO Readiness

Nato countries neighbouring Russia have moved quickly to increase their military readiness. Poland this week announced it had taken delivery of its first shipment of South Korean Black Panther main battle tanks, which will be deployed near the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region.

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland's deputy defence minister, said this month Warsaw was preparing for the possibility of a full-scale conflict.

Tomczyk told Super Express media: "We are preparing for war, hoping it never happens."

Ukraine's Agriculture Crisis

Recent Russian air attacks have destroyed about 90% of retailers' food logistics in Ukraine, Kyiv's agricultural minister said on Friday. Both countries have stepped up strikes in recent weeks on economic targets such as major retailers, with Russia targeting warehouses for Ukraine's premier supermarket chains, top postal service and home-goods stores.

"As of today, roughly speaking, 90% of food logistics operated by retail chains have been destroyed, but that doesn't mean Ukrainians will be left without food," farm minister Taras Vysotskyi was cited by the Ukrinform agency as saying. His comments to reporters in Kyiv are the most frank official assessment of the damage Russia's escalating strikes have brought on Ukraine's increasingly fragile economy in the fifth year of war.

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had been informed of three drone incidents at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south-eastern Ukraine earlier this week. The International Atomic Energy Agency said a drone attack on 25 August reportedly occurred near the plant's cooling pond, injuring two plant employees, while two other drones on 26 August reportedly struck the site's dry spent nuclear fuel storage area and the sprinkling device of the power units system. Radiation levels at the Zaporizhzhia plant remained normal, the watchdog added.

Moldova Airspace Violation

Six Russian drones crossed into the airspace of Ukraine's neighbour Moldova, local authorities said, prompting the president, Maia Sandu, to "strongly condemn this intimidation". One of them was found on Moldovan territory.

What's Next

• Ukrainian strikes: Implementation of 1,000 daily drone campaign
• Russian fuel crisis: Further impacts on domestic gasoline supplies
• Winter preparations: Ukraine's gas storage and energy infrastructure
• NATO response: Alliance readiness and deployment
• International diplomacy: Burnham at UN General Assembly