The Washington Inquirer EditorKYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on October 16 is due to outline his “victory plan” — a set of measures he says would turn the tide of the war in Kyiv’s favor — before the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.
The embattled country is struggling to stave off a slow-paced but relentless Russian advance in the east while its cities and infrastructure are being pounded by Russian attacks on a regular basis.
Zelenskiy last week went on a whirlwind tour of Ukraine’s most important European allies — Britain, France, Germany, and Italy — to present his plan after discussing it last month with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Kyiv had been expecting a response to the plan from its allies during a meeting of the Ramstein group of some 50 of Ukraine’s partners planned for last week in Germany, but the gathering was postponed after Biden canceled his trip as the United States grappled with the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Details of the plan are scarce, but it is believed to include NATO membership for Ukraine, obtaining permission from allies to launch strikes deeper inside Russia using Western long-range weapons systems, gaining more military resources from its allies to beef up Ukraine’s air defense, and stepping up sanctions against Moscow.
It is not known how much of the plan will be revealed during Zelenskiy’s address, which was announced on October 14 by presidential adviser Serhiy Leshchenko.
Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak told Ukrainian television on October 15 that Zelenskiy will not unveil all the details of the plan to the lawmakers, and appendices to the document will continue to remain secret, although Leshchenko had indicated the whole document will be made public.
“There are provisions [in the victory plan] that will certainly not be publicly discussed,” Podolyak said. “That concerns the numeric component, that is, how many weapons, in what form, and so on should be provided to Ukraine,” he said.
Podolyak added that “the key partners in terms of arms supplies to Ukraine remain the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, France, and Italy.”
Zelenskiy expects a response to the plan before presidential elections in the United States — Ukraine’s main ally and provider of financial and military help — where a victory by Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump could cast doubt about Washington’s continued support for Kyiv.
Zelenskiy’s presentation comes as Russia continues to keep up the pressure on Ukraine’s cities and infrastructure while Russian forces are advancing in the east toward the crucial logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
On October 16, Russia attacked Ukraine with 136 drones and two guided missiles. Most of them were neutralized by Ukraine’s air-defense system, Kyiv’s air force reported on Telegram. Fifty-one drones were shot down over the Sumy, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolayiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, and Chernivtsiy regions, the air force said, adding that another 60 Russian drones were neutralized as a result of electronic warfare measures.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its air-defense systems had downed three Ukrainian drones — two over Belgorod and one over the Voronezh region.
