Ukraine’s Zelenskiy: Front line ‘very, very difficult,’ must do what we can in autumn

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(Reuters) – Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday that the situation on the front line of the more than 2 1/2-year-old war against Russia was “very, very difficult,” and Ukraine’s forces had to do everything they could over the autumn period.

“Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in his nightly video address, referring to a more than 2 1/2 hour meeting with top commanders.

“Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved,” he said.

Ukrainian military bloggers have reported in recent days that Russian forces have been advancing on the hilltop town of Vuhledar, which Ukrainian forces have defended over the course of the war, in the south of the Donetsk region.

Russian forces have also been advancing slowly for months further north, with the aim of capturing the entire Donbas region, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that its forces had captured the village of Nelipivka, south of the city of Toretsk, one of Moscow’s targets in the area.