From Kharkiv region in the north to the farmland of Zaporizhzhia in the south, Russian forces in Ukraine are edging forward, exploiting gaps in Ukrainian defenses and a vast numerical superiority.
Russia has concentrated more than 150,000 troops in the Pokrovsk direction of Donetsk alone, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.
Russia is likely losing some 30,000 soldiers killed or wounded every month, according to western analysts. But it’s recruiting a similar number and has caught up with Ukraine in deploying a wide range of attack drones.
Mobilizing enough soldiers has become a crisis for Ukraine. More than 250,000 criminal cases have been opened into soldiers going AWOL since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Many units are seriously under staffed; for those who do serve rotations out of the frontlines get fewer and shorter.
The shortage is compounded by the sheer size of the battlefield – 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles) long from the Black Sea to the Russian border.
The south has become a hotspot as Russian forces have gradually advanced toward the city of Zaporizhzhia. They are now some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the city and 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the south.
“Ukraine may now be approaching the point when the country no longer has enough fighters to effectively defend the full length of the front lines,” according to one analysis.
Ukraine may be able to step up its deep strikes against Russian energy and military infrastructure. But the Kremlin will see no reason to make concessions at the negotiating table while its troops are on the front-foot.
