Zelenskiy says Russia may draft 300,000 more troops after September elections
Ukraine’s president said Russia may seek an additional 300,000 troops after parliamentary elections as fighting continues in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv, Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine believes Russia is planning to draft an additional 300,000 troops for its war effort after Russian parliamentary elections in mid-September.
Potential mobilisation
In comments to reporters released on Sunday, Zelenskiy said Russia could draft more troops in 2027 to reach an overall target of 500,000.
He described the effort as a “peripheral mobilisation” targeting Russia’s far-flung regions.
“We believe it will not take place in the central cities,” he said. “But I don’t think they will be able to hide it very well.”
Russian parliamentary elections are scheduled for September 18 to 20.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine
Moscow’s forces are continuing their effort to capture the remainder of the industrialised Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, advancing at what Kyiv says is a high cost.
As fighting continues around the strategic city of Kostiantynivka, Zelenskiy said Russia was losing a “maximum” number of troops in its attempt to advance into Ukraine’s so-called fortress belt of eastern cities.
He also cited recent gains by Ukrainian forces in southeastern Ukraine, saying the territory occupied by Russia and liberated by Ukrainian forces in 2026 would be equal.
Air defence supplies
Zelenskiy said Russia was reinforcing its battlefield offensive with an escalating air campaign against Ukrainian cities, worsened by a critical shortage of U.S.-designed Patriot interceptors.
He said Ukraine expected to receive 264 interceptors in 2026, compared with 364 in 2025 and 675 in 2023.
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