Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia could mobilize another 300,000 troops later this year. Moscow seeks to capture the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of the eastern Donetsk region.
Zelensky said Russia could begin the mobilization after parliamentary elections scheduled for September. He argued that Moscow is likely to avoid major cities. Instead, Moscow may draw recruits from more peripheral regions to reduce the political backlash associated with another large-scale call-up.
The warning comes as Russian forces continue offensive operations in eastern Ukraine but face heavy battlefield losses. Reuters reported that Zelensky believes Russia is preparing to draft an additional 300,000 troops after the elections. There could be potentially more recruitment in 2027.
Reuters: Russia may draft 300,000 more troops
Zelensky Says Russia Is Preparing for Another Mobilization
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had already identified preparations for a new Russian mobilization.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian president said intelligence reports and what he described as internal Russian documents indicated that Moscow was preparing for a new recruitment drive after the parliamentary elections. He said the plan could involve several hundred thousand additional troops before the end of 2026. Another large recruitment effort could follow in 2027.
The latest warning puts a more specific figure on that assessment.
According to Zelensky, Russia could mobilize around 300,000 people this year. He believes the recruits could then be deployed according to the situation on the battlefield, particularly in eastern Ukraine.
The Kremlin has not publicly confirmed that it intends to conduct a new mass mobilization of the scale described by Zelensky.
Russia’s previous major mobilization, announced in September 2022, triggered protests and prompted many Russians to leave the country to avoid military service. That experience is one reason Zelensky believes Moscow could seek to minimize the political impact of another recruitment campaign.
The Ukrainian president said Russia would likely avoid concentrating the new mobilization in major population centers.
Donetsk Remains Moscow’s Central Battlefield Objective
Zelensky also said Russian forces remain focused on capturing the rest of Donetsk. Donetsk is one of the four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally claimed to annex in 2022.
Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions in a strategically important part of the region, including cities such as Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
Zelensky argued that Russia would struggle to complete the occupation of Donetsk despite its willingness to commit additional manpower.
Independent battlefield assessments also indicate that Russian forces have faced significant difficulties in capturing the remaining Ukrainian-held portion of Donetsk. The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces have repeatedly failed to meet Kremlin deadlines for taking the region. It assessed that Moscow’s objective remains unlikely to be achieved by the end of 2026.
Institute for the Study of War: Russia’s Donetsk offensive
Zelensky claimed that Russia had suffered 267,000 personnel casualties since the beginning of the year, including approximately 155,000 deaths.
Those figures cannot be independently verified. CNN noted that the numbers are nevertheless broadly consistent with estimates from Western officials.
The disparity between Russia’s losses and its territorial gains is central to Kyiv’s argument. Moscow may need another large mobilization to sustain its offensive.
Ukraine Faces a Growing Shortage of Patriot Missiles
While Russia considers how to replenish its forces, Ukraine is facing a separate challenge: maintaining its ability to defend its cities and infrastructure from ballistic missile attacks.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s supply of Patriot interceptors has declined sharply compared with earlier years.
He cited 675 Patriot missiles supplied in 2023 and a projected 264 in 2026. Ukraine considers the system particularly important because Patriot is among the few air-defense capabilities capable of intercepting certain Russian ballistic missiles.
Zelensky has repeatedly urged the United States and other allies to provide additional interceptors, saying Kyiv is willing to purchase them rather than receive them as military aid.
Ukraine says Patriot deliveries remain below its needs
Ukraine has also sought additional European air-defense systems, including France’s Aster missiles.
Zelensky said that production capacity exists for Aster missiles but that Ukraine still needs licensing arrangements and additional political decisions to accelerate deliveries.
The pressure on Ukraine’s air defenses has become more urgent as Russia continues to use ballistic missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Britain Moves to Support Ukraine’s Long-Range Missile Production
Ukraine is also trying to expand its ability to strike military targets at longer distances.
During a visit to Kyiv, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that the United Kingdom would help Ukraine develop its own long-range SCALP missiles. The UK would do this by allowing defense company MBDA to share classified information about British components.
SCALP is the French designation for the missile known in the United Kingdom as Storm Shadow.
The agreement could eventually allow Ukraine to manufacture more of the weapon domestically, although the new capability is not expected to address Kyiv’s immediate battlefield requirements. The Associated Press reported that the missiles are not expected to become operational before 2027.
AP: Britain to share classified missile technology with Ukraine
The move represents a broader effort by Ukraine and its European partners to increase domestic defense production.
Ukraine has already expanded its use of long-range drones and domestically developed missiles to strike military and industrial targets inside Russia. Zelensky said Kyiv is also attempting to identify Russian launch sites for ballistic missiles.
He claimed that Russia’s military-industrial sector could produce about 1,300 ballistic missiles a year. However, that figure is a Ukrainian assessment rather than an independently verified production count.
Zelensky Seeks Greater Access to Starlink Intelligence
The Ukrainian president also discussed Kyiv’s efforts to obtain permission to use Starlink satellite imagery of Russian territory.
According to Zelensky, Elon Musk has expressed concern that providing such imagery could contribute to a major escalation between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky said Musk’s position was that he favored ending the war rather than prolonging it. Meanwhile, discussions with Washington over the issue continue.
The dispute reflects the increasingly important role that commercial satellite and communications technology plays in the conflict.
Ukraine has used commercially available satellite communications extensively during the war. Its military has increasingly incorporated drones, satellite data and other technologies into battlefield operations.
Washington Faces a Difficult Negotiating Challenge
Despite the military developments, Zelensky said diplomatic efforts to end the war remain active.
He said U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were struggling to identify a framework that could persuade Russia to accept an agreement without requiring Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas or accept other terms Kyiv considers unacceptable.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian and American sides had agreed to summarize the realistic options for ending the conflict on a single page for further discussions with both Washington and Moscow.
He also suggested that the diplomatic window could remain open through the end of next summer, before the U.S. presidential election campaign begins.
The comments underline the central problem facing negotiators: Russia continues to pursue territorial objectives on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Ukraine refuses to accept a settlement that would require major territorial concessions.
For Kyiv, the possibility of another Russian mobilization makes the question of military support even more urgent.
For Moscow, however, committing another 300,000 troops would represent a significant political and economic decision. This is particularly important after the disruption caused by the 2022 mobilization.
For now, the proposed mobilization remains a warning from the Ukrainian leadership rather than a confirmed Russian policy. But the fact that Russia is reportedly preparing for such a possibility is becoming an increasingly important factor in assessments of the war’s trajectory into 2027.
