Russia’s Kyiv ‘withdrawal’ will lead to offensive in Donbas – Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country’s forces are preparing for Russia to mount a new offensive in the south-east region of Donbas as Moscow announced it was scaling back military efforts around the capital Kyiv (Rodrigo Abd/AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country’s forces are preparing for Russia to mount a new offensive in the south-east region of Donbas as Moscow announced it was scaling back military efforts around the capital Kyiv.

Mr Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation on Wednesday evening: “We know that this is not a withdrawal but the consequences of being driven out. But we also are seeing that Russia is now concentrating its forces for new strikes on Donbas and we are preparing for this.”