Russia has made recent gains at four key parts of the front line snaking through eastern Ukraine, according to Western analysts and Russian officials.
New reports suggest that Moscow has advanced close to the embattled city of Pokrovsk and around the northeastern city of Kupiansk. Russia's government separately said on Tuesday it had captured one village close to the southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine and another close to the Ukrainian hubs of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Why It Matters
Russia advanced along several sections of the hundreds of miles of front line in Ukraine throughout 2024, although it put particular emphasis on the eastern Donetsk region.
It has focused on moving west of Avdiivka, which it captured roughly 11 months ago, and Bakhmut, which fell to Moscow in May 2023. In the past few months, Moscow has inched westward toward Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian stronghold northwest of Avdiivka. Recent weeks have shown the Kremlin's forces claiming a slew of villages around Pokrovsk.
Kyiv and Moscow are battling to get the upper hand in anticipated ceasefire negotiations once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated next week. There are pressing concerns in Kyiv and among Ukraine's other allies that the new administration could cut off Ukraine's vital supplies of military aid or force Ukraine into a deal with Russia.
What To Know
Moscow has recently advanced to the southwest of Pokrovsk, moving to encircle the logistics hub and approach the border with the country's Dnipropetrovsk region, Western analysts and Ukrainian officials have said.
The Kremlin is attempting to "cut off the logistics chains from there, so as not to go after the well-prepared defense that is already there," Major Viktor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces operating in eastern Ukraine, said over the weekend.
Separately, Vitaly Ganchev, a pro-Russian official in northeastern Ukraine, told Russia's Tass news agency on Tuesday that Moscow was advancing south of Kupiansk, a major city in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. Ganchev said the Kremlin was working to cut off supply and transit routes in and out of the city.
A Ukrainian official said last week that the front line was just two kilometers from the outskirts of Kupiansk, describing the situation as "very difficult." Ukraine's military said on Tuesday that Russia had launched two attacks on a pair of villages close to Kupiansk, adding that the fighting was "ongoing."
Moscow said in a statement on Tuesday it had captured Terny, a settlement southeast of Kupiansk and northeast of the Ukrainian-held cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Kyiv's military reported fighting in Terny on Tuesday but made no mention of reports that the village had been captured. DeepState, a popular Ukrainian war-tracking blog, showed Russian advances on the northern edge of Germany but did not confirm Russian control of the village.
In a later update posted to social media, Russia's Defense Ministry shared footage on Tuesday that it said showed Russian troops raising the Russian flag in the Donetsk village of Neskuchne, close to the border with neighboring Zaporizhzhia.
The DeepState blog showed unknown control over most of Neskuchne on Tuesday.
Ukraine's General Staff said Russia had repeatedly tried to "break through" Ukrainian defenses around Neskuchne and Velyka Novosilka, just to the northeast, but that fighting was still taking place.
What People Are Saying
The Institute for the Study of War think tank, on Monday: "Russian forces recently cut the T-0504 Pokrovsk-Kostyantynivka highway east of Pokrovsk and the T-0406 Pokrovsk-Mezhova highway southwest of Pokrovsk as part of their efforts to envelop Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad."
Vitaly Ganchev, a pro-Russian official in northeastern Ukraine, to Tass: "Our fighters are breaking up the enemy group in the area of populated areas south of the city, which will allow us to create a certain bridgehead for the development of a further offensive. Soon, the enemy units located in Kupiansk and its environs may find themselves in a situation in which attempts to retreat will be simply impossible."
What Happens Next
Less than a week from Trump's inauguration, both sides are fighting to place themselves in stronger positions for possible ceasefire talks brokered by the incoming U.S. leader.
Bitter clashes are expected to continue as officials wait to see how Trump will act on his pledge to end the war in Ukraine.
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