President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukrainians will "do everything" in their power to prevail over invading Russian forces despite all difficulties as U.S. President Joe Biden said he plans a “major speech” soon on the importance of continuing Western aid for Ukraine.
"There is fatigue but we will do everything to win against the enemy, and our counteroffensive goes ahead, even if slowly we do everything to repel the enemy," Zelenskiy told Italian news station SkyTg24 on October 4.
Zelenskiy also said Russia was weaker than at the start of the invasion in February 2022 and was trying to freeze the conflict.
He thanked Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for Italy's support for Ukraine and mentioned his "personal relationship and human relationship [with Meloni] based on shared values."
Biden, in comments to reporters, expressed concerns that U.S. aid to Ukraine could be hurt by the current chaos in Congress, but he said he saw a path to deliver aid even if support for Kyiv falters among some lawmakers, particularly Republicans.
Biden also said he will give a “major speech” soon to stress the importance of helping Ukraine defeat the Russian invaders, although the White House did not specify when such remarks might come.
"It doesn't worry me," Biden said about some hesitancy toward Ukraine aid. "I know there is a majority of members of the House and Senate and both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine."
Despite growing signs of war fatigue in the U.S. Congress and in some European Union countries, Zelenskiy said Kyiv still sees support in Washington and that he hoped to discuss with EU leaders ways to improve Ukraine's air defenses ahead of the cold season, when fresh Russian strikes are expected on the country's energy infrastructure.
Facing a likely roadblock from House Republicans on aid for Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden on October 4 said he's planning to give a "major speech" on the issue and suggested there may be "another means" to provide support for Kyiv if Congress continues to balk.
"I'm going to be announcing very shortly a major speech I'm going to make on this issue and why it's critically important for the United States and our allies that we keep our commitment" to Ukraine, Biden told reporters at the White House. White House officials declined to say when Biden planned to give his speech.
In Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on October 4 urged Western allies to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons.
"I say this to our allies: If we give President Zelenskiy the tools, the Ukrainians will finish the job," Sunak told the Conservative Party conference in northern England.
Earlier on October 4, air-raid alerts sounded across Ukraine's south, east, and center on October 4 amid reports of explosions in the southern region of Dnipropetrovsk, as Moscow claimed that it had "destroyed" swarms of Ukrainian drones over three Russian areas.
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There was little initial information about the blasts that were reported in Kryviy Rih. Alerts were declared early in the day in Odesa, Mykolayiv, and the Kherson regions, regional officials said.
In Russia, sirens also wailed across the country and TV stations interrupted regular programming to broadcast warnings on October 4 as part of sweeping drills intended to test the readiness of the country's emergency responders amid the fighting in Ukraine.
The exercise follows Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and other cities.
As the readiness drill went on, the Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses shot down 31 Ukrainian drones over border regions early on October 4.
"Air-defense systems intercepted and destroyed 31 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles over the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions," the ministry said on Telegram on October 4.
"Russian aircraft prevented an attempt to penetrate the territory of Crimea by a Ukrainian landing group traveling in the direction of Cape Tarkhankut on a high-speed military boat and three jet skis," it added.
The information could not be independently confirmed.
Russia, which has launched countless deadly drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure since the start of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, has been in recent months subjected itself to increasingly frequent aerial and naval drone strikes targeting regions close to the border and even Moscow.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces have been engaged in heavy fighting with Russian troops in the east and south, the military said, amid a seesaw of offensive and defensive actions by both sides in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhya regions.
Offensive operations were under way in the Melitopol area of Zaporizhzhya and Bakhmut in Donetsk, the General Staff reported early on October 4, adding that Ukrainian forces also repelled Russian counterattacks near Bakhmut.
"During the past 24 hours, 43 close-quarter battles took place along the front line," it said.