Ukraine: Zelenskyy visits eastern front, cluster bombs and 'devastating' loss of US aid

Images released by the Ukrainian Presidency show Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky visiting soldiers on the eastern front. 

"Today we are visiting our brigades performing combat missions in one of the hottest areas (of the front)" Zelensky said in a statement on social media.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday that he had visited the front in the east, in the area of the towns of Kupiansk and Lyman, which are the target of an offensive by Russian troops.

Mr Zelensky said he had "discussed the operational situation on the battlefield, current issues and needs with brigade commanders and fighters".

Ukrainian forces have been conducting a slow counter-offensive in the east and south since June, but in the Kupiansk sector it is Russian troops who are on the attack.

In August, the Ukrainian authorities called on the population living near Kupiansk to evacuate these areas. On 20 September, the army said it feared further Russian attacks in the area.

Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the front on several occasions since the start of the Russian invasion, including Bakhmut, the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.

The 47th Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces releases images showing a Leopard 2A6 tank delivered by Germany and belonging to the Ukrainian infantry in the Zaporizhzhia region, firing in the direction of the southeastern city of Melitopol, according to them. 

Russian conscripts won’t be sent to the combat zone in Ukraine and no additional mobilisation is currently planned, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting on Tuesday with senior military staff.

“The Armed Forces have the necessary number of servicemen to conduct the special military operation,”