• Zelensky on Israel-Gaza impact
• Ukrainian military developments
• International pressure on negotiations

The Israel-Gaza conflict is “diverting attention” from the Ukraine conflict, according to an admission made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He stated that “one of the goals” of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was to achieve this.

Challenges and Denials

In addition, he denied that hostilities in Ukraine had reached an impasse, contrary to the recent assessment by the country’s highest-ranking military general.

The southward advance of the Ukrainian counteroffensive has been minimal thus far.

This has caused Western allies of Kiev to be concerned about war fatigue, with some capitals reportedly becoming increasingly reluctant to continue providing Ukraine with advanced weapons and funds.

Separately, on Saturday, Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, verified the deaths of Ukrainian soldiers from the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade “Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia)” and ordered a thorough investigation into the incident, which he termed a “tragedy.”

Military Developments

He did not specify the number of personnel killed on Friday in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, which the Ukrainian military claimed was the target of a Russian missile strike.

Earlier, Ukrainian media and Russian military bloggers reported that an award ceremony in a village near the front lines resulted in the deaths of over twenty Ukrainian service members.

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Additionally, the Ukrainian military reported that it successfully attacked the “sea and port infrastructure” of a shipbuilding plant in Crimea, the southern peninsula of Ukraine that Russia unlawfully annexed in 2014. This occurred on Saturday.

State-run news agencies in Russia subsequently cited the Defence Ministry as saying that a Russian ship was damaged, but thirteen of fifteen Ukrainian missiles that were launched at the facility in the city of Kerch, eastern Crimea, were shot down.

The International Perspective

Mr. Zelensky stated during a briefing in Kyiv on Saturday with visiting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, “It is evident that the conflict in the Middle East is diverting attention away from Ukraine.”

He stated that Russia desired to “weaken” this emphasis, but he emphasized that “everything is within our control.”

Mr. Zelensky was also asked to provide an analysis of the assessment made this week by Valery Zaluzhny, the chief military commander of Ukraine, which stated that the conflict had entered a “positional” or dormant phase, allowing Moscow to “rebuild its military power.”

Mr. Zelensky responded, “Everyone is exhausted and there are differing viewpoints; however, this is not a stalemate.”

He acknowledged that Russia was “in control of the skies” and that Ukraine required sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses and F-16 warplanes manufactured in the United States immediately to change the situation.

The Ukrainian leader reflected on the previous year when he heard much about a stalemate on the vast battlefield in Ukraine. However, he cited significant military victories that followed for Kyiv in the southerly Kherson and the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Assessing the Situation

Furthermore, Mr. Zelensky denied that media reports were increasingly pressuring him to contemplate engaging in negotiations with Russia.

“At present, there is no external pressure from leaders of the European Union, the United States, or any other partner nation to convene negotiations with Russia or make concessions to it. This will not occur.”

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the current situation on the battlefield is not a “stalemate” on Thursday in response to Mr. Zaluzhny’s assessment.

“Every [war] objective that was established must be accomplished,” Dmitry Peskov stated, adding that Ukraine must realize that “it is absurd to even consider the Kyiv regime’s chances of winning on the battlefield.”

Vladimir Putin has asserted on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was unsuccessful, and this week, his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, stated that despite receiving new weapons from NATO allies, Kiev was losing the conflict.

In the meantime, according to the most recent report from British defense intelligence published on Saturday, Russia “has likely lost approximately 200 armored vehicles in its assaults on the Donbas town of Avdiivka” in eastern Ukraine.

“Since the beginning of October 2023, it is plausible that Russia has suffered several thousand personnel casualties in the vicinity of the city.”

“Russia’s leadership continues to demonstrate a willingness to accept heavy personnel losses for marginal territorial gains,” according to the analysis.

The Ukrainian military has repelled Moscow’s attempts to advance in eastern and northeastern Ukraine over the past few weeks.

None of the claims made by the opposing factions have been independently verified.

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