Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says Putin’s troops will have difficulty fulfilling planned advances – UK Times

A massive Ukrainian drone attack overnight targeted the southern Russian city of Novorossiysk, a key port and naval base.

The assault resulted in at least five people being injured and 20 buildings damaged, including residential blocks, private houses, and kindergartens.

Russia’s defence ministry reported downing 172 Ukrainian drones, with 67 intercepted over the Black Sea and 66 over the Krasnodar region, where Novorossiysk is located.

A state of emergency was declared in Novorossiysk following the “strongest strike,” according to the Krasnodar region governor.

Although drone debris fell on a grain terminal in Novorossiysk, officials confirmed that no damage was caused to the facility.

The distinctive buzz of Iranian-designed drones has become a familiar sound in Ukraine over the past four years. Now, it’s increasingly heard across the Persian Gulf as Tehran strikes back with the cheap but effective weapons following the attack by the U.S. and Israel against Iran.

The Shahed drones have made a transformative impact on modern warfare, with Russia sending swarms of the deadly weapons into the skies above Ukraine on nightly missions.

While ballistic and cruise missiles fly much faster and pack a bigger punch, they cost millions and are available only in limited quantities. A Shahed drone costs only tens of thousands of dollars — a tiny fraction of a ballistic missile.

The Russian army has seen its slowest advance on the war frontline in nearly two years, a US-based think tank monitoring the conflict has said.

At the same time, Kyiv’s troops scored several localised breakthroughs, an analysis by the Institute for the Study of War said, adding that Ukrainian forces saw the most success along the southern frontline and pushing back Russian army in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Moscow has been grinding forward in the east, moving closer towards the key hubs of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and occupies just over 19 per cent of Ukraine, the ISW said.

Ukrainian troops managed several localised advances during February, with a 61 sq km gain on 15 February and gains of more 50 sq km on 21 February and 23 February.

The gains for Ukraine also coincided with Russian troops slowing down at the frontline after Elon Musk cut the Starlink access for Moscow’s forces.

Russia’s military had failed to achieve aims it set out last year and would have difficulty fulfilling advances ​he said Moscow hoped to achieve, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Addressing journalists in Kyiv, Zelensky said ‌Moscow’s plans of seizing all of eastern Ukraine and areas further south remained unchanged.

The Ukrainian leader added that Moscow also hoped to advance towards the southeastern city of Dnipro and was also ​considering how to make gains in the southern Odesa region on ​the Black Sea.

Ukraine, he said, had secured maps outlining Russian plans ⁠for 2026-2027 but the maps had “nothing in common with reality” because Russia could ​not accomplish the task.

“We understand what they want. We understand that their directions ​remain current – the occupation of the east of our country, specifically the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” he said.

“They certainly want to continue in the direction of the Zaporizhzhia region and toward ​the city of Dnipro. And although it is difficult for them, they ​are looking toward the Odesa region,” Zelensky said.

“For the moment, he said, Ukraine “does not see that they have ‌the ⁠capability to accomplish the tasks we saw on those maps” but the state of things would depend on the supply of weapons to Kyiv and on Ukraine’s own domestic production.

A Russian drone hit ⁠a commuter train on Monday ⁠in ​the ⁠central Ukrainian region ⁠of Dnipropetrovsk, ​killing one ⁠person ‌and wounding seven people, deputy ‌prime minister ‌Oleksiy Kuleba said ⁠on the Telegram messaging app. Regional officials said two children were ‌among ​those wounded ‌in ⁠the attack.

Kyiv sees membership in the bloc as key to its post-war future. A reference to Ukraine joining the EU at a specifically defined date is included in drafts of a 20-point peace plan that was agreed between Ukraine and the United States and is under negotiation with Russia.

EU officials have said that Ukraine, with a mixed record on transparency, corruption, and the rule of law, may need many years of reforms to meet the EU’s entry criteria.

Volodymyr Zelensky repeated on Monday that Ukraine would be technically ready for EU accession by next year and said the timing of its entry into the 27-nation bloc depended on the political will of its partners. “If they truly believe in Ukraine, if they want to see Ukraine in the EU, then this is the opportunity: at the end of the war, to give Ukraine a concrete date and not repeat the mistake they made with NATO,” he said.