Zelenskyy says Ukrainian troops achieved 'tangible' results in Kharkiv region

Ukraine's president said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had achieved “tangible” results in the country's Kharkiv region, currently the site of the most intense battles with Russian forces.

“The situation in the Pokrovsk direction and other Donetsk directions – Kramatorsk and Kurakhove – remains extremely difficult now. It's where most of the combat is taking place. The Kharkiv region – our forces are destroying the occupier, and the results are tangible. I thank all our warriors for their accuracy and resilience,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

Zelenskyy said he informed the US and Ukraine's other partners during a regular Ramstein format meeting that took place the day before about Kyiv's needs -- air defense, armored vehicles and shells.

"I received detailed reports from the Minister of Defense (Rustem) Umerov and the Chief of the General Staff (Anatoliy) Barhylevych on the situation on the frontline and on ensuring our defense. The Commander-in-Chief (Oleksandr) Syrskyi also delivered a report," he said.

He stressed that “the whole content of the communication with the partners should be reflected in the content of the real combat work of our warriors – the means of destruction that are needed at the front right now, in these weeks, not sometime in the summer.”

In a separate statement, Zelenskyy said his five-year presidential term that expired on May 20 continues because of the martial law he introduced in Ukraine in February 2022.

He also blamed the West for not closing Russian embassies in their countries, saying thus, they show that they consider Ukraine's defeat a probability.