Zelenskyy avers next year will be 'crucial' for Ukraine as battle in the east intensifies

Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, the president of the war-torn nation Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that next year is going to be "very crucial" for his nation, adding that Kyiv continue to prepare the defence and security forces. His statement comes at a time when the battle in Ukraine's east is intensifying. Fighting is currently underway around the city of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces are trying to retake the strategically important city from Russian forces.

"We continue to prepare the defence and security forces of Ukraine for the next year. It must be a crucial year. We understand the risks in the winter, we understand what we have to do in the spring, and therefore we understand what results the entire defence and security sector must demonstrate,” Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said in his late night address

Kreminna is located near the larger cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, important industrial centers in the Donbas region that were previously conquered by Russia during a long and costly campaign. President Vladimir Putin has described the annexation of the Donbas as a key goal of the war. The Russian military has fortified its positions near Kreminna with defensive barriers as part of its efforts to maintain control along the front line, which stretches for hundreds of miles. If the Ukrainians are able to retake Kreminna and other nearby towns, it would give them a stronger presence in the region and allow them to control major roads leading to Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Zelenskyy says situation in east "acute" 

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy described the situation in Kreminna and other parts of eastern Ukraine as "difficult" and "acute," with Russian forces using significant resources to try to gain an advantage. According to the regional governor of Luhansk province, Serhiy Haidai, part of the Russian command in Kreminna withdrew to the town of Rubizhne in response to military pressure, though it isn't clear how accurate this claim is. A Russian-backed official in occupied Luhansk stated that the situation around Kreminna and another nearby city, Svatove, remains "very tense."

The Ukrainian counterattack in the east comes as the country's economy, which has been greatly impacted by the war, is showing further signs of strain. The Ukrainian government has had difficulty raising money on bond markets and has had to pay investors $2.2 billion more than it collected in bond sales, according to the Central Bank. Projections suggest that Ukraine's economy shrank by 40 percent this year.