CNN
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Ukraine’s army chief warned his forces were facing “one of the strongest Russian offensives” since the start of the war, as Russia claimed to have captured several settlements on the eastern front line.

Russia has consistently made gains in eastern Donbass region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to encompass in its entirety. Reuters, citing open source data, reported that Russia advanced at its fastest pace in at least a year.

Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said the situation on the front line “remains difficult” and certain areas “require constant replenishment of the resources of Ukrainian units”, in a statement on Telegram on Saturday morning.

Forces in Kiev, he said, “are holding back one of the strongest Russian offensives since the start of the full-scale invasion.”

Over the weekend, Russia claimed the capture of two settlements in the Donetsk region – Kurakhivka and Vyshneve. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed either claim.

Vyshneve is close to Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub in the east and a major target of the Russian offensive.

Meanwhile, Russian drone attacks continue as Ukraine prepares for what could be a tough winter, with its energy infrastructure already badly damaged.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched more than 50 drone strikes in Ukraine overnight Sunday. Over the past week, Russia has dropped more than 900 bombs on Ukraine and launched about 30 missiles and nearly 500 Shahed drones in different regions of Ukraine, he added.

Most of the strikes were directed against civilian objects and critical infrastructure, the statement said.

Zelensky spent the last few weeks trying to get more support, but he did yet he could not get consent to shoot deeper into Russia.

He repeated his plea for Western aid, adding in the statement that “all these strikes would not have been possible if we had enough support from the world.”

Zelensky warned that “Russia is gradually increasing this activity” and added that Moscow still has the ability to “use Western components for this purpose.”

“All this is supplied to Russia from abroad,” Zelensky continued. “And unfortunately it’s coming from companies in China, Europe and America – lots of micro-contributions to Russia’s constant terror.”

The developments come at a precarious time for Ukraine.

The Next week’s US presidential election will determine America’s policy on Ukraine, which is currently at a crossroads. If elected, Kamala Harris is expected to largely continue the Biden administration’s supportive policies. Taking a drastically different stance, Donald Trump suggested he would end support for Kiev’s war effort and claimed he could resolve the war “in one day”.

Meanwhile, Russia is understood to be beefing up its workforce with North Korean troops. How many 8,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia’s Kursk region and are expected to enter combat against Ukraine in the coming days, senior US officials said this week.