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Draft 300,000 After Elections
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is planning to draft an additional 300,000 troops for its war effort after Russian parliamentary elections in mid-September, as Moscow presses ahead to capture the rest of eastern Ukraine’s industrialized Donbas region.
“Parliamentary elections in Russia are set for September 18 to 20.”
Zelensky told reporters that Russia could draft more troops in 2027 to reach an overall goal of 500,000, describing it as a “peripheral mobilisation” targeting Russia’s far-flung regions.
Zelensky said Russia was losing a “maximum” amount of troops in its bid to advance into Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt of eastern cities, while he also hailed recent gains by Kyiv’s troops in southeastern Ukraine.
The reporting tied the warning to the election calendar, saying parliamentary elections in Russia are set for September 18 to 20, with fighting rages around the strategic city of Kostiantynivka.
Patriot Shortage and Losses
Zelensky said Russia is bolstering its battlefield offensive with an escalating air war on Ukrainian cities made worse by a critical shortage of US-designed Patriot interceptors.
He said Ukraine is expecting to have received 264 Patriot interceptors in 2026, a drop from 2025 when Ukraine received 364 and from 2023 when it received 675.
Zelensky warned that “As you can see, there is, unfortunately, a downward trend, and this depends primarily on the American side,” linking the air-defense shortfall to the ability to shoot down ballistic missile attacks.
In the same remarks, Zelensky claimed Russia has lost 267,000 personnel since the start of the year, including around 155,000 killed to date, and said he expected Russians would end the year occupying the same amount of Ukrainian territory as at the beginning of the year despite enormous losses of manpower.
Energy Strikes and Funding Gap
Zelensky said Ukraine was facing another difficult winter of Russian strikes on its energy grid, prompting Kyiv’s air force to ask for 360 missile interceptors for the season.
“Ukraine’s war effort is further complicated by a $27 billion defense funding gap this year”
He said he had reached an agreement with France on at least one SAMP/T air-defense system this year, and with Germany on the supply of about 600 PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors through 2028.
Zelensky also said Ukraine’s war effort is complicated by a $27 billion defense funding gap this year, adding that at least $8 billion is needed for “a normal start” to 2027 plus about $20 billion more for military salaries and payments to families of the dead.
In comments on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Kyiv had opened “Pandora’s box” by striking economic targets, and Zelensky’s warnings about air-defense and winter energy-strike readiness were framed against that backdrop.