War Against Ukraine: Zelensky Anticipates Russian Partial Mobilization
For a long time, Kremlin chief Putin had remained silent about Ukrainian attacks on refineries and logistics centers — now he is threatening a harsh response. Ukraine assumes that Moscow will soon want to mobilize hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
Mutual attacks and new threats: The situation in the war against Ukraine remains tense and could escalate further. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes that Russia is planning to mobilize 300,000 soldiers after the parliamentary elections in September. In addition, according to him, Russia could conscript hundreds of thousands more soldiers in 2027 to conquer the remainder of the Ukrainian Donetsk region.
Zelensky emphasized that his country urgently needs missiles for the Patriot air defense systems. He said Patriot deliveries had halved since 2023, when Ukraine still received 675 of these interceptor missiles, compared to only 364 in 2025. For this year, Ukraine currently expects 264.
Zelensky: We Need 30 Billion Euros for Defense
Billions are also needed to finance Ukraine's defense effort. Kyiv expects 30 billion euros from the EU for defense spending, he said. "They are needed for the defense of the entire country." Currently, there is a gap of 27 billion dollars (approximately 23 billion euros) in the defense budget.
Twenty billion alone would be necessary to pay soldiers' salaries, compensation for the families of fallen soldiers, and other expenses, Zelensky said. Additional money is needed, partly for drone production. "A significant sum of money is required. I am working on this matter with the French and Germans," the Ukrainian president said.
Regarding recent demands for elections from the popular politician Mykhailo Fedorov, who was dismissed as defense minister, Zelensky reaffirmed his position that this is not possible in wartime. "Elections at this point in time would be like a tsunami for the state, which would divide Ukraine," he said.
Putin and "Pandora's Box"
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, threatened a harsh response from Moscow on Saturday with reference to the massive Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries and logistics centers in Russia. Putin had been silent for a long time and had not commented on the matter for weeks, said ARD correspondent Silke Diettrich on tagesschau24. Now, however, he had stated very clearly that these attacks would have severe consequences.
Specifically, Putin said that Ukraine had opened "Pandora's box" with the attacks directed against Russia's economy. Kyiv had itself let "the genie out of the bottle." "The countermeasures will not be long in coming." Ultranationalist circles in Russia had recently called on Putin to take a harder line against Ukraine. Now he said: "In doing so, the actions of the Russian army will be considerably more palpable and destructive."
In recent weeks, Russia had already been using ballistic missiles against Ukraine with increasing frequency — in the knowledge that the country has hardly any modern interceptor missiles left to defend itself. Putin described these strikes, which killed more civilians than in a long time, as appropriate and effective.
