His daily speech at night said, “We must speed up building in all major areas where reinforcement is needed.”

The town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine is being surrounded by Russian troops.

They are also aiming for the southern parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The air force of Ukraine said overnight that it had shot down 18 of the 25 Russian drones and one of the two cruise missiles.

President Zelensky has said that “winter as a whole is a new phase of war” because it is below freezing and snowy in Ukraine.

“Maximum attention” would be paid to towns in the east that are being attacked in the Donetsk region, as well as a key defense line in the northeast between Kupyansk and Lyman, said the leader of Ukraine.

He also included the area around the city, Kyiv, where defenses would be strengthened.

People may be more afraid of a conflict that is becoming more “frozen” because President Zelensky is focusing on making defense lines stronger.

Most people think that Ukraine’s counter-offensive since the summer has not quickly brought about the wins that were hoped for.

Morale on both sides of the front lines will depend in part on how well soldiers are prepared to handle the colder months.

The army said that 20 attacks had been pushed back just near Avdiivka, and towns around Bakhmut had been attacked.