He also stated that in recent months, the Russian military has been losing more troops on the battlefield than its current recruitment efforts provide.
“[Russian dictator Vladimir] Putin is going to expand this war; he needs more Russians to take part in assaults,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address.
“We have intelligence that Russia is preparing a significant mobilization this fall.”
He added Ukraine needs to act preemptively and strengthen its defense in all domains to prepare for the Russian attempt to further escalate the war.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv will continue working to bolster international support and measures to deter Russian aggression and move toward a just peace.
On July 23, Zelenskyy said a trilateral Ukraine–U.S.–Russia meeting should take place before autumn. “I think we must work persistently on this. If it were up to us, it would already have happened in July. But not everything depends on us,” he said.
On July 18, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense
Council (NSDC) said that Russia plans to mobilize more than 500,000 people this
fall to replenish losses and potentially open a new front.