President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces are retaking territory through a series of offensives, and that Kyiv's battlefield position is the strongest it has been in some time in the four-and-a-half-year war.

In his nightly address, Zelenskiy disclosed for the first time Operation Veles near Kupiansk in the north-east, in which Ukrainian troops used underground gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions, turning against the Russians a tactic they had tried themselves. He also cited an air-assault operation in the east and Operation Vivaldi further north, where the Third Army Corps cleared 75 square kilometres of Russian infiltration groups and recaptured a further 10 square kilometres.

What Kyiv says it still needs

Zelenskiy said the position could be made stronger with more air-defence deliveries from Western allies, as Russia continues strikes on energy and transport infrastructure. The same day, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called Vladimir Putin to press for de-escalation ahead of US-mediated technical talks between Kyiv and Moscow due in Abu Dhabi in early November.

Kupiansk was recaptured by Ukraine in late 2022 but has faced constant Russian pressure since; Zelenskiy described Veles as strong, well planned and technology-driven. Battlefield claims from either side cannot be independently verified in full, and neither Moscow nor Kyiv has published a complete account of the operations.

Sources: Reuters and Reuters on the Finnish-Norwegian call.