Zelensky Mocks Putin’s 15 Failed Deadlines to Capture Donetsk Region

The strike on Zaporizhzhia amounted to a deliberate assault on civilians and public transport, according to President Zelensky.

“In Zaporizhzhia, it was effectively a hunt for civilian targets, for ordinary vehicles,” Zelensky said in his evening address. 

Russian forces deployed FPV and reconnaissance drones against civilian transit, hitting an ordinary passenger minibus and targeting an area near a city bus route. The drone strike on the minibus killed three civilians and wounded six others, including a child. 

“With FPV drones and other types of drones, the Russians are attacking life itself,” he stressed. 

The president also condemned a “brutal, absolutely senseless” Russian strike on Dnipro, where an ordinary civilian enterprise was hit. The missile strike on Dnipro infrastructure killed five people and wounded 29 others. 

“People were killed. More than two dozen people were wounded,” Zelensky said, expressing condolences to the families of the victims. “Russia continues its explicitly terrorist war against Ukraine, against Ukrainians.

Kyiv promises precision response

While vowing that Ukraine would answer Russia’s attacks, Zelensky emphasized that Kyiv’s response is aimed at Russia’s war machine, not civilians.

“Of course, we will respond to all of these Russian attacks in a completely just manner,” he said.

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Ukraine’s goal, he added, is to make the Russian state system suffer, along with Moscow’s ability to prolong the war.

The president linked Ukraine’s long-range strikes to growing pressure inside Russia, including gasoline shortages reported in several Russian regions.

“Putin can go on and on, claiming on TV that he supposedly has everything under control,” Zelensky said.

But ordinary Russians, he added, can now see the real cost of the war while standing in gasoline lines across the country.

‘Gas station’ state faces fuel shortages

According to the Ukrainian leader, Russia’s war – which Moscow once expected to finish quickly – is now in its fifth year and has begun to return home.

He pointed to the irony that Russia, a major energy exporter often described as an oil state or “gas station,” is now facing domestic fuel shortages.

“This is a direct consequence of the war,” Zelensky said. “One of its consequences. And one example of how Ukraine responds. With precision. Not as terrorists.”

Ukraine, he added, is “bringing the reality of the war back to Russia” and making it as difficult as possible for Moscow to continue occupying Ukrainian land.

The president said Kyiv’s plan of “long-range sanctions” is being implemented, along with what he called “mid-range sanctions.”

These operations are constantly discussed with military commanders, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry and intelligence agencies, and adjusted in response to the situation on the battlefield.

Ukraine is working to ensure that the aggressor state can no longer keep the war “somewhere over there,” he added.

“Everyone who seeks to destroy the life of another nation suffers themselves,” Zelensky said. “We are defending life.”

15 failed deadlines for Donetsk

Turning to the front line, the president thanked Ukrainian combat brigades holding their positions, especially in Donetsk region, where Russian assaults remain intense.

He said Moscow remains fixated on capturing Donbas and pointed to what he described as one measure of Russia’s repeated failure: since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Russian army has been given 15 deadlines for capturing Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

“Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas,” Zelensky said. “They have entertained this delusion – that they would fully capture Donbas – 15 times already.”

According to the president, Russia’s first deadlines came in 2022: March 31, May 9, June 1, Sept. 15 and Dec. 31.

In 2023, Putin set two more deadlines for capturing Donbas: March 1, and then, when that failed, Dec. 31.

In 2024, there were again two such deadlines.

In 2025, when Russia tried to convince US President Donald Trump that Ukraine would supposedly fall, Moscow set three more final dates for capturing Donetsk region: Sept. 1, Dec. 1 and Dec. 25.

This year, Russia again pushed back the target. First, it was March 31. Then Sept. 1. Now, according to Zelensky, the deadline has been moved to Dec. 31.

Putin’s ‘next million’

The Ukrainian leader warned that if Russia refuses to end the war, it will be forced to move the deadline again – at a devastating human cost.

“If Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then the million Russians who have not yet been mobilized into the Russian army and are arguing in gas lines should think about what awaits them next,” Zelensky said.

He emphasized that Kyiv has already put forward proposals to end the war, all of which Moscow has rejected.

“We have already made every proposal to end this war, and Russia refuses every time,” the president said.

Ukraine expects concrete results from partners

Looking ahead, the president said Ukraine will spend the coming weeks working with international partners on steps that can bring peace closer and strengthen the country’s defense.

Kyiv expects concrete responses from the Group of Seven and members of the Coalition of the Willing regarding Ukraine’s requests.

June and July, he stressed, must deliver results for Ukraine and for shared security.

“Peace is needed,” Zelensky said.

He thanked everyone helping Ukraine defend itself, as well as those providing strength inside the country and supporting others.

“Glory to Ukraine!” he concluded.