Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Associated Press that “winter as a whole is a new phase of war” and acknowledged that “we did not achieve the desired results” with the summer counteroffensive. The Ukrainian leader also said that “we already can see the consequences of the international community shifting [attention] because of the tragedy in the Middle East”.
Zelenskiy later said that changes were needed to improve Ukraine’s system of mobilisation as part of an overall strategy to improve the country’s military position. In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said a meeting of the military command had discussed scenarios to produce “concrete results” for 2024 in conditions of war.
Russia said its troops were advancing in every section of the Ukrainian front, despite observers seeing little movement. The frontlines have barely shifted this year but fighting has remained intense. “Our servicemen are acting competently and decisively, occupying a more favourable position and expanding their zones of control in all directions,” Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to increase the maximum number of servicemen in the Russian armed forces by 170,000, the Kremlin and the defence ministry said. The regular strength of the armed forces is now set at 1,320,000 servicemen, according to the document.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow saw no signs that Kyiv was ready to move towards a political resolution and that there was no reason for Russia to change the goals of its “special military operation”.
The situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border remained tense, with Ukrainian truckers stuck on the border saying they planned to launch a hunger strike if their demands were not met. Polish and Ukrainian officials agreed on measures designed to help ease the situation at border crossings blocked by Polish truckers, but did not address the protesting Polish truckers’ main demands. Slovak truckers said they would start blocking a border crossing with Ukraine.
A court in Russia has extended the detention of Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva until 5 February.
