Situation at a glance: Ramstein meeting: Zelensky is expecting a historic week

With a view to the upcoming meeting of Ukraine’s partners in Ramstein, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expecting a historic week. Both Ukraine, the USA and other partners were preparing “significant decisions” for this meeting on October 12th, Zelensky reported in his evening video contribution. “This week can be positive for our defense, for our vision of how the war should end.”

He assumes that the meeting at the invitation of US President Joe Biden at the American base in Rhineland-Palatinate will be “historic in many respects,” said Zelensky. The aim is to guarantee Ukraine lasting peace and security. “This is possible only on the basis of international law and without any trade in sovereignty or trade in territory,” he said.

Shortly before, the “Financial Times” had speculated about a possible peace deal with a “country for NATO membership” deal. According to this, Russia would continue to keep its troops in the occupied territories and the solution to this issue would be postponed to a later date. Ukraine would in turn receive immediate membership in NATO, with a limited assistance clause. However, the paper emphasized that approval from Zelensky or Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin could hardly be expected.

Zelenskyj pointed out that the Ukrainian soldiers at the front also made their contribution to the meeting in Ramstein. “That means they demonstrate what Ukrainians can do when they have enough weapons and enough range,” he said, particularly emphasizing the use of the drone force.

Every destroyed Russian military base, every destroyed Russian airfield, every destroyed warehouse with bombs means saving Ukrainian lives and “real support” for the front. However, Ukraine wants to convince its partners “that drones alone are not enough.” In doing so, he indicated that Kiev would continue to ask for permission to use long-range weapons from Western supplies against military targets on Russian territory. Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two and a half years.

Russian drone swarms cover Ukraine

Late in the evening, Russia’s military again covered parts of Ukraine with swarms of combat drones. Attacks by Shaheds were reported from Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernyhyv as well as from Kherson, where anti-aircraft defenses also took action. A man was killed when a drone hit the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the regional military administration reported. Four people were injured in another drone strike.

Russian attacks expected near Zaporizhia

According to the Ukrainian military leadership, Russian troops are now preparing for an imminent attack in the direction of the large city of Zaporizhzhia. The aim of this advance was, among other things, to cut off the supply lines in the eastern defense areas around the Donbass, the military representative responsible for the region, Vladislav Voloshin, speculated on television.

“The fact that the so-called counter-battery war as well as the shelling of our positions and the attacks on our lines continue shows that the situation there is very difficult,” he said. Counter-battery warfare refers to artillery bombardment of identified enemy artillery positions. There are also heavy air and rocket attacks on this section of the front south of Zaporizhzhia. “The situation there is quite turbulent.”

Russian units have recently conquered additional villages and settlements around Donbass in eastern Ukraine. Moscow has annexed the occupied territories in Ukraine in violation of international law and integrated them into Russia’s territory, but does not fully control these regions within the administrative borders.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian troops have occupied the south of the area with the nuclear power plant of the same name, but not the city itself.

No respite from Russian attacks until the end of the year

After the territorial conquests of the past few weeks, Russian troops are likely to continue their attacks in the coming weeks, according to a Ukrainian military expert. “We should not expect before winter that the enemy will stand still and these numerous infantry attacks will stop,” said Olexander Musiyenko, head of the Center for Military Legal Studies in Kiev.

After the capture of Vuhledar, the Russian military will now certainly turn towards Kurakhove, as well as Pokrovsk and Kupyansk. “A slowdown in enemy offensives before winter is not expected,” said the military expert. The biggest advantage of the Russian military is currently the infantry, which is charging against the Ukrainian lines in non-stop waves and with high losses.