Zelensky: Putin May Draft 300,000 More Troops After Russian Elections

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Sunday that Kyiv believes Russia is preparing to draft roughly 300,000 additional troops once its parliamentary elections, scheduled for Sept. 18-20, are over. He said Moscow's broader target could be reaching 500,000 new recruits by 2027 through what he called a "peripheral mobilization" concentrated in Russia's outlying regions rather than major cities, adding that such a campaign would be difficult for Moscow to fully conceal.

Fighting continues in the Donbas

Russian forces continue pushing to seize the remaining unoccupied parts of the Donbas industrial region. Intense fighting is underway around the strategically important city of Kostiantynivka, where Zelensky said Russia is suffering "maximum" losses as it tries to advance into Ukraine's eastern fortress-belt cities. He also praised recent Ukrainian gains in the southeast, saying the territory Russia occupied and Ukraine liberated in 2026 would roughly balance out.

Air defense shortages persist

Russia is intensifying its aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities, a push made more dangerous by a severe shortage of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors. Zelensky said Ukraine expects to receive about 264 interceptors in 2026, a sharp drop from 364 in 2025 and 675 in 2023. He added that Russia is working to build the capacity to produce up to 1,300 ballistic missiles annually.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes over the summer against Russian economic targets, including oil refineries and online retail warehouses, aiming to disrupt infrastructure it views as key to Moscow's war effort. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Kyiv had opened a "Pandora's box" by striking economic sites and vowed retaliation against Ukraine's most sensitive economic sectors.

Difficult winter and funding shortfall ahead

Zelensky said Ukraine is bracing for another hard winter of Russian strikes on its power grid, prompting its air force to request 360 missile interceptors for the season. He said Ukraine had secured an agreement with France for at least one SAMP/T air-defense system this year, and with Germany for around 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors to be delivered through 2028. He also disclosed a $27 billion gap in this year's defense funding, driven by higher-than-expected spending in the first half of the year, with at least $8 billion needed for a stable start to 2027 and roughly $20 billion more for salaries and other payments.