Russia has deployed 170,000 troops for push in Donetsk region: Zelenskyy

Russia has deployed around 170000 troops in Ukraines eastern Donetsk region where they are trying to capture the stronghold of Pokrovsk in a major push for a battlefield victory Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said FridayldquoThe situation in Pokrovsk is difficultrdquo Zelenskyy said while also rejecting recent Russian claims that the devastated city is surrounded after more than a year of fighting He acknowledged that some Russian units had infiltrated the city but insisted that Ukrainian defenders are weeding them outldquoThere are Russians in Pokrovskrdquo Zelenskyy told a media briefing in Kyiv ldquoThey are being destroyed gradually destroyed because well we need to preserve our personnelrdquoIn previous sieges during the almost four years since Russia launched its allout invasion of its neighbour Ukraine has pulled out of some places to avoid losing troops Ukrainian forces are desperately shorthanded against Russias bigger armyRussian President Vladimir Putin has recently claimed that Russian forces are making significant advances on the battlefield though their progress has been slow and costly in troops and armourPutin is trying to persuade the United States which wants him to seek a peace deal that Ukraine cant hold out against Russian military superiority He has also stressed what he says is Russias improving nuclear capability as he refuses to budge from what he calls his countrys legitimate war aimsUkraine claims hits on Russian oil facilitiesUkraine has been fighting back by hitting targets inside Russia to disrupt military logistics and make Russian civilians feel the effects of warSince the beginning of the year Ukraine has conducted over 160 successful longrange strikes on Russias oil extraction and refining facilities the head of Ukraines Security Service Vasyl Maliuk told reporters at the briefingIn September and October alone Ukraine conducted 20 strikes on Russian oil facilities Maliuk saidHe claimed that the strikes had brought a 20 per cent drop in oil products on Russias domestic market and temporarily halted the operation of 37 per cent of Russias oil refining capacity The claims could not be independently verifiedldquoClearly we are not resting on our achievements There are many fresh perspectives and new approaches in this workrdquo Maliuk said ldquoThese include new equipment new combat units and new methods and means of communicationrdquoHe said that over this year Ukraine has destroyed nearly half of Russias sophisticated Pantsir air defence systems which have stopped Ukrainian longrange dronesHe also noted that last year Ukrainian forces destroyed one of Russias advanced new hypersonic missiles that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound striking it on the ground at a military base inside RussiaThe Oreshnik missile touted at the end of last year by Putin as invulnerable to air defence systems and a gamechanging weapon was hit at the Kapustin Yar military firing range near the Caspian Sea in southwestern Russia roughly 500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border according to MaliukPutin said a year ago that the missile was used in an attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro some months after Maliuk said Ukraine destroyed one of themUN reports rise in Ukrainian civilian casualtiesMeanwhile Russian drones struck apartment blocks in the northeastern city of Sumy overnight injuring 11 people including four children and also hit the southern Odesa regions energy infrastructure authorities said FridayThe war has this year been deadlier for civilians than 2024 with a 30 per cent rise in casualties so far the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale said FridayRussias almost daily aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy production and distribution facilities are especially worrying because the winter is forecast to be much colder than last year Schmale said at a briefing in GenevaUkrainian cities have centralised public infrastructure to run water sewage and heating systems and the UN fears that denying those services to people in highrise buildings in cities near the front line ldquocould turn into a major crisisrdquo according to SchmaleldquoDestroying energy production and distribution capacity as winter starts clearly impacts the civilian population and is a form of terrorrdquo he saidAlso the UN humanitarian operation is short of money to respond to acute needs as its Ukraine funding has declined from over USD 4 billion in 2022 the year of Russias fullscale invasion of its neighbour to USD 11 billion this year Schmale saidHe added that the conflict ldquofeels increasingly like a protracted warrdquo as USled international peace efforts this year have come to nothingldquoWe have been through phases this year where there was cautious optimism that it might endrdquo Schmale said ldquoRight now on the ground it doesnt feel at all like its ending any time soonrdquo