The president thanked frontline troops and said that Russia’s assault is falling far short of what its commanders promised their leadership in Moscow.

March 16, 2026

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have “thwarted” a Russian offensive planned for March.

Zelensky previously told reporters that Ukrainian defensive action has prevented the Russian troops from advancing using armored vehicles, instead forcing them to resort to small infiltration groups and constant assault attempts along parts of the front line.

In Monday’s evening address, Zelensky thanked “our warriors who are defending Ukrainian positions and destroying the occupier.”

“Although the attacks are constant and assaults continue, the intensity of the assaults and the scale of the confrontation are not what the Russians had planned and what their command had promised the political leadership of Russia,” he said.

“This is important because our strength at the front is the strength of absolutely all Ukrainian positions, our communication with the world, our diplomacy, and the world’s ability to stand with us – whatever the challenges may be.”

A renewed US-led push for peace which began in November with a US-backed 28-point peace plan drafted with the aid of Kremlin officials has stalled in recent weeks – particularly in the wake of a massive US-Israeli military campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggered a spiralling conflict in the Middle East.

However, US President Donald Trump has continued to exert pressure on Zelensky to accept peace on Russia’s terms.

In particular, Zelensky thanked Ukrainian units in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, “all those defending Ukraine in the Kharkiv region and in the border areas of the Sumy region.”

He said that the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine is “important” – adding that Russian troops are massing there, “but we are destroying those forces.”

“I thank our Airborne Assault Forces and all other components of the Defense Forces of Ukraine: the infantry, all unmanned units, artillery, intelligence, special operations forces, the forces of the National Guard and the National Police, which are also involved. Thank you.”

On Thursday, a commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said units destroyed 19 elements of Russia’s air defense network between March 1 and March 12.

Also on Monday, Zelensky said he had spoken to AFU Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi about the battlefield situation.

“There is much to commend the Ukrainian warriors for. Well done, guys,” Zelensky said.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/72035