President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address that Russia is preparing the conditions for an expanded mobilization and has no plans to end the war in the autumn. According to Ukrainian intelligence, Moscow also wants to bring in another 30,000 troops from North Korea.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this, citing intelligence reports.
According to him, Russia’s plans for the autumn contain no intention of pursuing peace. Putin is preparing the conditions for an expanded mobilization, although he is trying to disguise these intentions with different wording and signals.
Zelenskyy noted that 221,000 people had been recruited into the Russian armed forces during the first incomplete seven months of this year.
At the same time, according to his data, Russian army losses during the same period amounted to almost 225,500 troops. Of these, 131,000 were killed and nearly 93,000 were wounded.
The president added that a significant proportion of the injuries were severe because of the poor state of Russian frontline medicine.
“Putin is preparing simply to take more Russians to war. He is disguising it with other words and signals, but he is preparing,” Zelenskyy said.
According to him, Ukraine and its partners need to increase pressure on Russia so that thoughts of ending the aggression, rather than conducting an additional mobilization, prevail in the Kremlin.
The president stressed that Ukraine’s long-range operations and mid-range strikes are contributing to this. According to him, an increasing number of Russians are noticing the consequences of Putin’s war and believe it should not be prolonged.
Zelenskyy also spoke about deepening cooperation between Russia and North Korea. According to intelligence, Moscow wants to receive another 30,000 North Korean troops.
Preparations to receive them have been under way in Russia’s Voronezh region since June.
In addition, North Korea is preparing to transfer new ballistic missile launchers to Russia.
The president stressed that such cooperation poses a threat not only to Ukraine. Russia is helping North Korea gain warfare experience, improve its weapons and test them under real combat conditions.
According to Zelenskyy, this creates a danger for every country in Asia within range of North Korean missiles.
