Zelensky: We Seek To End War By Winter Through Escalation On Military, Diplomatic Fronts
Ukraine is openly advancing plans to escalate militarily against Russia, in hopes that it will force a return to diplomacy, and hasten an end to the war by winter time.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has made clear he aims to ramp up diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Moscow, while acknowledging that a short timeline is ideal but likely very difficult to achieve.
Speaking Monday at a gathering of Ukrainian ambassadors in the capital, Zelensky identified autumn 2026 as the target window. "We will try very hard to make this happen before winter, in the autumn," he said, according to Ukrainian national media.
But he quickly tempered expectations, adding: "We clearly understand who we are dealing with and that Putin hopes to continue dragging out this war."
According to Zelensky, the Kremlin is preparing for a prolonged conflict. "He is preparing mobilization at home and new strikes. We see Russia's true intentions, we are uniting our partners and putting pressure on the aggressor," he said in reference to Putin.
He said this campaign is to include continued reliance on allied military and economic measures, until Moscow has no realistic alternative but to negotiate.
Zelensky pointed to what his government calls "long-range sanctions" - Ukraine's term for strikes on Russian military and industrial infrastructure supporting the war, alongside conventional sanctions imposed by Western governments.
The objective, he said, is to bring all of these tools to "such a level of pressure that Russia is left with no alternative other than peace."
Lately attacks have expanded to include targeting online Russian retailer giant, Wildberries...
The attacked Wildberries warehouse near Vladimir is burning over an area of 100,000 square meters.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 3, 2026
Forbes analysts estimated the losses of Russian businessmen from Ukrainian strikes on logistics warehouses at €2.3–3 billion. pic.twitter.com/QyJQQ6rIth
On Monday yet another large Wildberries warehouse went up in flames, this time in Vladimir region, marking the third attack in a mere two weeks on the e-commerce company's logistics network. There's been over a dozen similar attacks so far over the last month.
Zelensky has alleged these warehouses are involved in providing Russian forces with drone components, navigation equipment and other military supplies listed on its website. There have also been reports of underequipped Russian soldiers ordering straight from Wildberries to make up for front line deficiencies.