Kremlin claims NATO is 'real threat' to world order; Russian 'strike force' builds around Zelenskyy's hometown - CNBC

The hometown of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is looking increasingly vulnerable, coming under repeated attacks from Russian forces in recent days, with Ukraine's southern army unit saying Russia is building a military "strike force" to target Kryvyi Rih.

Early Thursday, Ukraine's southern military command said the situation in its operational area — where fighting is intensifying around Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih as well as Zaporizhzhia to the east and Mykolaiv and Kherson to the south — is "tense and complex.".

The battle for eastern Ukraine is ongoing, however, with Zelenskyy describing the situation in the Donbas as hellish, adding that Russia still has the upper hand in the region.

He said Ukraine had improved its tactical position around the eastern city of Sloviansk and recaptured two villages, but that Russian forces had been trying to take the eastern city of Avdiivka and village of Pisky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, described the attack on Toretsk today as another instance of Russian "terrorism.".

Earlier, NATO's Jens Stoltenberg said Russia's war in Ukraine is an attack on the current world order and that Europe was "experiencing its most dangerous situation since World War II." In addition, he said that Russia must not be allowed to win the war.

"This situation has been maturing for several decades and in many ways it was fueled by the policy of NATO because they brought the borders closer to Russia, this created additional threats for us," Peskov said.

Stoltenberg, speaking in his native Norway, said Europe was "experiencing its most dangerous situation since World War II" and that Russia must not be allowed to win.

said Russia was feeling threatened by Western-supplied weapons systems that are allowing Ukraine's forces to counterattack the Russian army more effectively, citing efforts by Russia to hide damage the Antonovsky Bridge, which leads to occupied Kherson and is vital for their military supplies to the city, that was hit by Ukrainian missiles last week.

Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is looking increasingly vulnerable with Ukraine saying Russia is building a military "strike force" to target the industrial city in central-southern Ukraine.

Early Thursday, Ukraine's southern military command saying the situation in its operational area — where fighting is intensifying around Kryvyi Rih as well as Zaporizhzhia to the east, and Mykolaiv and Kherson to the south — is "tense and complex.".

"The enemy continues to conduct hostilities on the occupied line of defense. In order to prevent the advance of our troops and restore the lost position, the composition of the group in the Kryvyi Rih direction is increasing due to the transfer of units of the 35th Army of the Eastern Military District," the unit said, saying that Russian aircraft were becoming "more active" and attacking the area south of Kryvyi Rih.

Ukraine's southern military command said in a previous update on Wednesday that it believed Russia was creating a military "strike group in the Kryvyi Rih region" and that "it's also quite likely that the enemy is preparing a hostile counter-offensive with the subsequent plan of getting to the administrative boundary of Kherson region.".

In his nightly address on Sunday evening, Zelenskyy praised the bravery of residents in his hometown, as well as other cities under repeated attack as Russia looks to extend its territorial gains in east and southern Ukraine.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Zelenskyy said Ukraine has pursued talks with China since the beginning of the war.

He told the newspaper that Russia would feel much more economically isolated without the Chinese market and could use that to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war.

China has repeatedly said it supports a "peaceful resolution" to the situation in Ukraine, but has so far refused to call Russia's war an "invasion.".

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