Zelensky admits freezing weather putting a spoke in wheel of Ukraine’s operations on the battleground

Ukrainian troops face “difficult” defensive operations on parts of the eastern front with bitter winter cold setting in, but forces in the south are still conducting offensive actions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.

Russian troops launched offensives on different sections of the front line in Ukraine’s east this autumn, trying to advance on the devastated town of Avdiivka and in the north-east between the towns of Lyman and Kupiansk.

“Difficult weather, difficult defence on the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka fronts. Offensive actions in the south,” Mr Zelensky said on Telegram messenger.

Snow and freezing temperatures that stood at about -5C during the day yesterday and were expected to drop lower may further complicate operations on the battleground, where fighting is moving to an attritional phase.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion in February last year, controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine. Kyiv launched a counteroffensive to retake occupied territory this summer, but has not forced a major breakthrough.

Since mid-October, Avdiivka, where the front line has changed little since the first war erupted in 2014 between Kyiv and Russian-backed militants, faced waves of attacks followed by temporary lulls, according to the Ukrainian military.

After one such lull the day before, the head of the “Tavria” military command said yesterday that Russian troops had “dramatically increased” the number of assaults and airstrikes.

“Our defenders are steadfastly holding the defence in the Avdiivka direction,” Commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said on Telegram. Ukrainian forces continued the offensive on the south-eastern Melitopol front, he added.

In their morning readout on the battlefield, the general staff said troops were also holding onto the bridgeheads secured on the eastern side of the River Dnipro that was occupied by Russian forces in the early days of their invasion.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal hailed a new €1.5bn aid tranche from the European Union, saying it was key to maintaining the country’s macroeconomic stability as war raged on.

Mr Shmyhal also said he hoped for fast approval of the EU’s multi-year €50bn programme for Ukraine as uncertainty grew over aid from the United States for the next year.

The finance ministry said the government had received the latest €1.5bn tranche from the EU, bringing the bloc’s total aid to €16.5bn so far this year.

“It helps us to maintain economic resilience during the large-scale war,” Mr Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app. “We expect that the new multi-year support mechanism ‘Ukraine Facility’, worth €50bn will be approved by the EU member states as soon as possible.”

The war with Russia, now in its 21st month, has severely hit the Ukrainian economy, with the government relying heavily on financial support from Western allies for social spending.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.