Russia has claimed that its forces have pushed into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, an area Moscow has been trying to reach for months. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, subunits from the 90th tank division reached the border of Dnipropetrovsk with the Donetsk region and continued into Dnipropetrovsk.
However, Ukraine has denied the Russian advance, with Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia forces, stating that “the Russians are constantly spreading false information that they have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region from the Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka directions, but (in neither place) is this information true.”
If confirmed, the Russian advance would be a setback for Ukrainian forces at a time when peace talks have stalled. Russian forces have made incremental progress in the northern Sumy region and near Lyman in Donetsk, putting pressure on Ukrainian forces. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that Russia pushed forward with the Dnipropetrovsk offensive after Ukraine refused to recognize Russia’s territorial gains during peace talks in Istanbul. “Anyone who does not want to acknowledge the realities of war in negotiations will receive new realities on the ground,” Medvedev said on Telegram.
The conflict has intensified in recent weeks, with Ukraine conducting a drone attack that took out multiple aircraft inside Russia and striking the bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula. Russian forces have also advanced further into Ukraine, attempting to grab territory quickly as peace talks continue. A second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul yielded no major breakthroughs, with talks lasting just over an hour.
The Russian advances come as the two countries clashed over a planned swap of prisoners of war that failed to take place on Saturday. Moscow accused Kyiv of unexpectedly postponing the transfer, while Ukrainian officials said that the two sides had agreed to exchange seriously wounded and young troops but had not set a date for repatriating soldiers’ remains. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted that Ukraine is doing everything possible to ensure the release of prisoners and the return of soldiers’ bodies. “Unfortunately, there are still no complete lists from Russia for a thousand plus people – which we agreed on in Istanbul,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly told Russia and Ukraine that there will be consequences if they don’t engage in his peace process. Trump compared the warring states to children fighting, saying, “Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they’re fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don’t want to be pulled. Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart.” Trump suggested he might use sanctions on Russia or Ukraine if the war doesn’t end, stating, “We’ll be very, very, very tough, and it could be on both countries to be honest. You know, it takes two to tango”.
