President Volodymyr Zelensky said that since the start of the full-scale war, Russian command has already set 15 deadlines for capturing Donetsk region, but has failed to achieve that goal each time.
He said this in his latest address, speaking about the situation on the front line and the hottest areas of fighting.
Zelensky thanked Ukrainian combat brigades and units that are carrying out their missions and holding positions. According to him, the situation in Donetsk region remains especially important, as it is where the largest number of Russian assaults is being recorded.
The president said Russia’s political leadership is “constantly obsessed with Donbas,” but all the deadlines set by Moscow have failed.
According to Zelensky, in 2022 Russia planned to capture Donbas by March 31, May 9, June 1, September 15 and December 31. In 2023, Putin set new deadlines — March 1, and then December 31.
In 2024, according to the president, Russia also postponed its deadlines twice. In 2025, when Russians tried to convince US President Donald Trump that Ukraine would allegedly collapse, there were three more deadlines: September 1, December 1 and December 25.
Zelensky added that in 2026 Russia again postponed the date for capturing Donetsk region: first it was March 31, then September 1, and now the latest deadline has been set for December 31.
“If Russia does not end its war, they will have to postpone this deadline again,” the president said.
Zelensky also said that if Putin wants to “lay down another million of his soldiers,” then Russians who have not yet been mobilized and are “arguing in queues for gasoline” should think about what awaits them next.
The president stressed that Ukraine has already put forward all proposals to end the war, but Russia refuses every time.
Separately, Zelensky commented on gasoline shortages in different regions of Russia. According to him, this is one of the direct consequences of the war.
“Putin can say on television as much as he wants that he supposedly controls everything, that there is supposedly gasoline, that Russian ministers are supposedly competent enough. But Russians themselves, standing in queues for gasoline in different regions of Russia, can really see that their ‘three-day war’ is already in its fifth year, and even an oil state, a ‘gas station,’ as Russia was called, is now facing a gasoline shortage,” Zelensky said.
The president said Ukraine is “returning the reality of war to Russia” and making the continued occupation of Ukrainian land as difficult as possible.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine’s plan of long-range sanctions is being implemented. Medium-range sanctions are also being carried out.
He noted that Ukraine is discussing these actions in detail with military commanders, the Security Service of Ukraine, the defense minister and intelligence agencies, responding quickly to the real situation.
“We are securing the results Ukraine needs so that the aggressor state cannot keep the war ‘somewhere over there.’ Everyone who seeks to destroy the life of another nation suffers themselves. We are defending life,” Zelensky said.
