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Ukraine's Zelenskiy says territory recaptured, forces on the offensive

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The Straits Times. (2026, October 27). Ukraine's Zelenskiy says territory recaptured, forces on the offensive. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/ukraines-zelenskiy-says-territory-recaptured-forces-on-the-offensive

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The Straits Times · collected 2026-10-27 · by The Straits Times

Quick Summary

On October 27, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced in his nightly address that Ukrainian forces were reclaiming territory through several offensives, including a previously undisclosed operation named "Veles" near Kupiansk. This operation involved using gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions. Zelenskiy also mentioned the successful “Vivaldi” offensive which recaptured 10 square kilometers of land and cleared an additional 75 square kilometers of Russian infiltration groups in northeastern Ukraine.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 28, 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukrainian forces were successfully retaking territory through several offensives, including the previously undisclosed Operation Veles. In this operation, Ukrainian troops used underground gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions near Kupiansk, a city in northeastern Kharkiv region recaptured by Ukraine in late 2022 but under constant Russian pressure since then. Soldiers trekked through nine miles of narrow, muddy pipelines and managed to eliminate around 100 Russian troops while taking more than 30 as prisoners.

Zelenskiy highlighted the strength of the Ukrainian position on the battlefield, stating it was the strongest in years due to these operations and expressed hope for additional support from Western allies. He also mentioned Operation Vivaldi further north and an air assault operation in eastern Ukraine aimed at preventing Russian advances in key areas. On the diplomatic front, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere held a direct phone call with Vladimir Putin, though this move received criticism from other European leaders who are against direct engagement with Russia.

Written for “Ukraine Recaptures Territory” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Ukraine Recaptures Territory
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky says frontline positions strongest in a long time after territory recaptured Same event
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Hedges 0 of 54 claims Outlet record 59/100
US announces ceasefire in Russia-occupied Ukraine city 'on brink of disaster' Different event
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on a ceasefire announcement in Oleshky, while Article B discusses Ukraine recapturing territory and going on the offensive.”
Zelenskiy says US warnings on ballistic strikes have fully resumed Different event
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events: one about US warnings on ballistic strikes being restored and the other about Ukrainian forces recapturing territory.”
Ukraine defies Trump to resume attacks on Russian oil refineries Different event
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different attacks occurring at separate times, with Article A discussing territory recapture and offensives on October 27th, while Article B reports on attacks on Russian oil refineries in defiance of US pressure on November 1st.”
Russian strikes cut power to thousands in Ukraine as Kherson ceasefire to end Different event
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⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different events occurring at distinct times: one is about territory recapture and an offensive on October 27th, while the other reports Russian strikes cutting power to thousands in Ukraine and ending a ceasefire in Kherson on November 1st.”
Zelensky says Ukraine will stop hitting Russia’s refineries if US provides missiles Different event
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Hedges 2 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events occurring at distinct times - one is about territory recapture in October and the other is about stopping attacks on refineries contingent on missile provision in November.”
Russia, Ukraine begin ceasefire in city of Oleshky as deadly strikes continue elsewhere Different event
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Hedges 2 of 38 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the ongoing conflict; one focuses on a ceasefire in Oleshky, while the other reports on Ukraine's territorial gains and offensives.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Straits Times's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Straits Times · 4203 article(s) · 5 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 5 correction(s)
2026-10-30
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2026-10-04
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Who wrote this

The Straits Times
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Topics

Kyiv Russia Russian Ukraine Ukrainian

Subjects

Russian NORP · 6× Ukraine GPE · 5× Zelenskiy PERSON · 5× Ukrainian NORP · 4× Russia GPE · 3× Donbas GPE · 2× Kyiv GPE · 2× Russians NORP · 2× Kupiansk GPE · 1× Volodymyr Zelenskiy PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Ukraine's Zelenskiy says territory recaptured, forces on the offensive Oct 27 - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were retaking territory through a series of offensives, including one operation previously unannounced in which Kyiv's troops used gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
🔮 Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Kyiv's battlefield position was the strongest in some time in the 4-1/2-year-long war and could be made stronger with more deliveries of air defence systems from its Western allies.
2026-10-30 · The Straits Times
Ukraine's Zelenskiy says territory recaptured, forces on the offensive · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

Ukraine's Zelenskiy says territory recaptured, forces on the offensive Oct 27 - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were retaking territory through a series of offensives, including one operation previously unannounced in which Kyiv's troops used gas pipelines to outflank Russian positions. asserted
troops → say → positions
Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Kyiv's battlefield position was the strongest in some time in the 4-1/2-year-long war and could be made stronger with more deliveries of air defence systems from its Western allies. uncertain
position → speak → allies
Zelenskiy, citing a report by senior commanders, noted for the first time the "Veles" operation using pipelines in Ukraine's northeast. asserted
Zelenskiy → cite → northeast
He also referred to an air assault operation in eastern Ukraine and the "Vivaldi" operation further to the north, designed to prevent Russian advances in key areas. asserted
He → refer → areas
He said Operation Veles was conducted near Kupiansk, a city in northeastern Kharkiv region recaptured by Ukrainian forces in late 2022, but since under constant Russian pressure. asserted
Veles → say → pressure
"It is a strong operation, well planned and technology-driven. asserted
It → plan → ?
The Russians tried to use underground gas pipelines to advance past our positions," Zelenskiy said. asserted
Zelenskiy → try → positions
"Our fighters turned this tactic against the Russians and used the underground infrastructure against the occupiers with extraordinary success," he said. asserted
he → turn → success
In the Vivaldi offensive, one senior commander reported last month that Ukraine's Third Army Corps had cleared an area of 75 square kilometres (29 square miles) of Russian infiltration groups and recaptured a further 10 square kilometres. asserted
Corps → report → kilometres
That operation was focused to the north of the key strongholds in the region — the so-called "fortress belt" of the cities Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. asserted
operation → focus → cities
Their capture would bring Russia closer to its goal of seizing the entire Donbas region. asserted
capture → bring → region
Zelenskiy in August spoke of success in an offensive further south, with 26 villages being returned to Ukrainian control. asserted
villages → speak → control
Russia says it favours an overall resolution of the war rather than a short-lived ceasefire and has pledged to pursue its drive to capture all of Donbas. asserted
it → say → Donbas
Russian commanders repeatedly say, often in announcements in President Vladimir Putin's presence, that their forces are advancing on all sections of the 1,200-km (750-mile) front line. asserted
forces → say → line
The chief of Russia's General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, said this month that Moscow's forces had captured 92 Ukrainian settlements, including the town of Dobropillia, since the beginning of September. asserted
forces → say → September
Ukraine's military dismissed the Russian statements. asserted
military → dismiss → statements
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