Against the background of the growing pressure of the Russian army, Zelenski went to the bunker, on the front line / Kiev confirms the first attack with the Flamingo cruise missile – VIDEO

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited troops near his country's southeastern front on Thursday, warning of the need to strengthen defensive lines after Ukrainian defenders lost ground in recent, increasingly intense battles away from the Russian army's offensive in eastern Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Zelenskiy, whose government is facing a major corruption scandal, said the situation near the village of Orikhiv was “one of the most difficult” on the extended front and that pushing back Russian forces there was essential to protecting the city of Zaporozhye.

“Zaporozhie is an important city, the enemy definitely wants it. We definitely have to defend it,” he said, awarding medals to troops and discussing ways to strengthen defensive lines.

Lack of combat power

Neither side made major progress on the battlefield after the first year of the Russian invasion. But Moscow's forces, which control 19 percent of Ukraine, have been on the offensive since late 2023 and have gradually advanced.

As Russian forces move closer to capturing the city of Pokrovsk, in eastern Donetsk region, and advancing towards Kupiansk, a city in northeastern Kharkiv region, mounting pressure from the southeastern front has become a concern for Ukraine and its allies.

The head of the Ukrainian army, General Oleksandr Sîrskîi, wrote in a message published on the Telegram messaging app that Pokrovsk remains the focus of Kiev's frontline defensive operations and that Ukrainian units are “operating effectively” in the city.

Sîrskîi said Ukrainian forces were gaining ground around the village of Ocheretyne, further east, drawing Russian forces there and reducing pressure on Pokrovsk.

Earlier this week, in an unusual display of candor, Sîrskîi said the situation had “significantly worsened” in some parts of the Zaporizhia region.

About half of Russia's gains on the front line in the past two months have occurred around the southeastern settlements of Huliaipole and Velyka Novosilka, said Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military analysis and consulting firm in Poland.

“Although this is not Russia's main effort, Ukraine's lack of combat power (small number of soldiers, no) has allowed Russian forces to make significant tactical advances,” he said.

The offensive west of the town of Velyka Novosilka could threaten Huliaipole from the north, he added.

“If Ukraine does not fix these gaps, Russian forces could advance further to the west, approaching Zaporozhye, which risks also leading to the isolation of Ukrainian units in the south,” Muzyka said.

Pavlo Palisa, a military official in the Ukrainian president's office, said Russian forces were looking for weak points and taking advantage of foggy weather conditions to try to bypass Ukrainian positions in the southeast.

Ukraine confirms it used Flamingo cruise missile overnight

Zelenski met with soldiers in a bunker, spoke with military commanders and laid flowers for fallen soldiers during his visit on Thursday. He stated that he discussed the necessary decisions to strengthen the Ukrainian defense, including the number of soldiers and military equipment.

The move to the front came as Zelenskiy and his government seek to quell the fallout from a major energy corruption scandal that has angered Ukrainians facing widespread power outages due to Russian bombing of power plants.

Ukraine has tried to step up pressure on Russia in recent months, using drones to attack oil infrastructure far behind the battle lines in an attempt to cause fuel shortages and cut into Russia's crude oil revenues.

The Ukrainian military said it struck an oil terminal in the annexed Crimean peninsula, an oil depot in the occupied Zaporizhia region and other military targets overnight.

Kiev's forces have said they used a variety of weaponry in the attacks, including the Flamingo, the domestically produced new ground-launched cruise missile that the military says has a range of thousands of kilometers.

Although the Ukrainian army did not specify in which attack the Flamingo missile was used, the Kiev press wrote that the target was the city of Oryol.

The Flamingo cruise missile was unveiled in August 2025, when the Ukrainian military announced it had a range of over 3,000 kilometers. At the time, President Zelenskiy stated that mass production would only begin in 2026.

The Oryol region is targeted by Kiev's attacks as it hosts several crude oil depots. In addition, attacks by Iranian kamikaze Shahed drones are launched from here. The main city of the region is located 150 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

At the height of the attacks, between August and October, Ukrainian strikes and planned maintenance knocked out 20 percent of Russia's refining capacity, Reuters reported earlier on Thursday, citing calculations based on information from three Russian industry sources.