Russia declares key Ukraine advance as peace talks stall
Russia stated Sunday that it was advancing into Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk area for the very first time in its three-year intrusion, a substantial territorial escalation amidst stalled peace talks.
Russia said Sunday that it was advancing into Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk region for the very first time in its three-year intrusion, a substantial territorial escalation in the middle of stalled peace talks. Ukraine’s top political and military leaders did not instantly react to the claim of the advance, which would be a symbolic and strategic blow after months of battlefield obstacles. Moscow, which has the initiative throughout much of the front, has actually repeatedly declined calls by Ukraine, Europe and United States President Donald Trump for an unconditional ceasefire even as it holds talks with Kyiv on a possible settlement to the war. Russia’s defence ministry stated forces from a tank unit had “reached the western border of the Donetsk People’s Republic and are continuing to establish an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk area”. There was no response from leaders in Kyiv to the claims, Ukraine’s southern army command said Russia “does not provide up its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region, but our fighters are bravely and professionally holding their section of the front line”. Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the 5 Ukrainian regions– Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea– that Moscow has openly claimed as Russian area. In a set of peace needs issued to Ukraine during negotiations in Istanbul on June 2, Moscow required official recognition that these regions were part of Russia, something Kyiv has consistently ruled out. At a preliminary of talks last month, Ukraine stated Russia threatened to speed up and broaden its offensive if Kyiv did not capitulate. 10s of thousands of individuals have been eliminated in Russia’s three-year war, with millions forced to leave their homes and cities and towns throughout eastern Ukraine ravaged by unrelenting air attacks and ground combat. Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the national security council, said the most recent advance was a cautioning to Kyiv. “Those who do not wish to identify the truths of the war at negotiations, will receive brand-new realities on the ground,” he stated on social media. Russia’s army published images revealing soldiers raising the Russian flag over the village of Zorya in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, near the internal border. A Ukrainian lieutenant colonel, 60-year-old Oleksandr, said that Russians going into the region would not alter the characteristics of the battle. “They are advancing slowly, extremely gradually, but they are advancing,” he told AFP in the town of Mezhova, around a lots kilometres from the border in between the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions. More from this section One person was killed there in an over night bomb attack. Oleksandr stated he remained defiant. “They could state all of Ukraine comes from them. Stating it is one thing. But I don’t think it will drastically change the circumstance. Our resistance will stay the same.” Dnipropetrovsk had an approximated population of three million before Russia released its offensive. Around one million individuals lived in the local capital, Dnipro. It is an essential mining and commercial center for Ukraine, and deeper Russian advances into the region might have a major effect on Kyiv’s having a hard time military and economy. Ukrainian military personnel previously told AFP that Russia might advance fairly quickly in the mainly flat region, given there were less natural obstacles or towns that could be used as defensive positions by Kyiv’s forces. The area, and in specific the city of Dnipro, has been under relentless Russian strikes because Moscow got into in February 2022. Russia used Dnipro as a testing ground for its “experimental” Oreshnik missile in late 2024, claiming to have struck an aeronautics production center. Ukraine also said Sunday that a detainee exchange– the only agreement reached at the Istanbul talks– would start “next week” after both sides accused each other of trying to delay the swap and prevent. Moscow said Ukraine was declining to accept take back the bodies of killed soldiers, while Kyiv stated Russia had actually not sent the names of more than 1,000 recorded soldiers to be launched. Both sides had said days previously the exchange could happen this weekend. “The Russian side, as usual, is trying to play an unclean, political, info game,” Zelensky said in his night address. If Russia stops working to comply with the agreement, it “will cast great doubt” on diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war, he added. bur-jc/js
Russia stated Sunday that it was advancing into Ukraine’s eastern Dnipropetrovsk area for the very first time in its three-year invasion, a substantial territorial escalation amidst stalled peace talks. Russia’s defence ministry stated forces from a tank unit had “reached the western border of the Donetsk Individuals’s Republic and are continuing to establish an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk area”. There was no action from leaders in Kyiv to the claims, Ukraine’s southern army command said Russia “does not give up its objectives to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region, but our fighters are bravely and expertly holding their area of the front line”. At a first round of talks last month, Ukraine stated Russia threatened to speed up and expand its offending if Kyiv did not capitulate. Moscow stated Ukraine was declining to concur to take back the bodies of eliminated soldiers, while Kyiv said Russia had actually not sent out the names of more than 1,000 recorded soldiers to be launched.
