Zelensky visits troops near Zaporizhzhia front as Russian pressure mounts

• Troop shortages let Russia make tactical gains, analyst says
• Ukraine fires its Flamingo cruise missile on Russian target

LONDON/KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops near Ukraine’s southeastern front on Thursday, warning of the need to shore up the lines after losing ground in increasingly high-intensity battles far from Russia’s main offensive in the east. Zelensky, whose government is reeling from a corruption scandal, said the situation near the village of Orikhiv was “one of the most difficult” on a sprawling front and that thwarting Russian forces there was key to shielding the city of Zaporizhzhia.

“(Zaporizhzhia) is an important city, the enemy certainly wants it. We certainly have to defend it,” he said, awarding medals to troops and discussing ways to strengthen the lines.

Ukraine fires its Flamingo cruise missile

Meanwhile, Ukrained  has its FP-5 missile, which officials say can fly 3,000 kilometers and land within 14 meters of its target, is one of the largest such missiles in the world, delivering a payload of 1,150 kilograms (2,535 pounds), according to experts. It is commonly known as a Flamingo missile because initial versions came out pink after a manufacturing error.

In Crimea, which Russia has illegally annexed, Ukraine’s general staff said its forces struck an oil terminal, a helicopter base, a drone storage site and an air defense radar system. In occupied parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia region, an oil storage depot and two Russian command centers were hit.

The general staff gave no details about what was targeted on Russian soil.

Manpower shortages

Neither side has made major breakthroughs on the battlefield since the first year of Russia’s 2022 invasion. But Moscow’s forces, which control 19 percent of Ukraine, have been on the offensive since late 2023 and have gradually edged forward.

As Russian forces close in on capturing the city of Pokrovsk in the east and bear down on Kupiansk to the northeast, mounting pressure in the southeast is a new worry for Ukraine and its allies.

Earlier this week, in a display of unusual candour, top Ukrainian military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said the situation had “significantly worsened” in parts of Zaporizhzhia region.

Syrskyi visited units fighting to hold Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region and coordinate operations in person, he said on the messaging app Telegram.

Roughly half of Russia’s frontline gains in the last two months have come around the southeastern settlements of Huliapole and Velyka Novosilka, said Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland.

“Although this is not the main Russian effort, Ukraine’s shortage of manpower has allowed Russian forces to make tactically significant advances,” he said. The push west of Velyka Novosilka could threaten Huliapole from the north, he added.

“If Ukraine does not address these gaps, Russian forces may push further west — not only moving closer to Zaporizhzhia, but also risking the isolation of Ukrainian units in the south,” he said. Pavlo Palisa, a military official in the president’s office, said Russian forces were probing for weak points and using foggy weather conditions to try to bypass Ukrainian positions in the southeast.

Syrskyi, the armed forces chief, said the eastern city of Pokrovsk remained the focus of Russia’s main offensive push and that Ukrainian forces had pressed actively on a nearby front, drawing away Russian troops to ease the pressure.

Ukrainian troops are locked in street battles with Russian forces in the city and fighting to prevent becoming surrounded as the Kremlin's war of attrition slowly grinds across the countryside.

Syrskyi said the key goals are to regain control of certain areas of the city, as well as protect logistical routes and create new ones so that troops can be supplied and the wounded can be evacuated.

“There is no question of Russian control over the city of Pokrovsk or of the operational encirclement of Ukraine’s defense forces in the area,” Syrskyi said.