Russia and Ukraine both claim frontline progress
Russian and Ukrainian officials make conflicting claims about battlefield successes in their four-year war; Ukraine says it has pushed back Moscow’s forces in some frontline areas, while the Kremlin insists Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.
At the same time, Russia’s almost daily air strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine continue, emergency services said on Tuesday; At least 14 people, including two children, were injured in drone attacks on two cities overnight.
The Ukrainian air force announced that it shot down 122 of the 137 UAVs launched by Russia at night.
U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine are on hold as Washington’s attention has been diverted from the plight of Ukraine trying to hold back Russia’s massive army to the war on Iran, which has drawn international attention.
Major General Oleksandr Komarenko said in an interview published by local media outlet RBC-Ukraine on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces, despite a shortage of troops, had recently recaptured almost all the territory of the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk industrial region during a counteroffensive, pushing Russian troops out of an area of more than 400 square kilometers.
He described the overall situation on the front line as difficult but under control, with the heaviest fighting continuing near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and Oleksandrivka in the south, where he said Russian forces have concentrated their main effort.
There was no independent verification of his statement regarding the military situation.
But the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukraine’s latest counterattacks “created tactical, operational and strategic effects that could disrupt Russia’s spring-summer 2026 offensive operational plan.”
Meanwhile, a Kremlin aide said Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump late Monday that Russian forces were “moving forward quite successfully” in Ukraine.
Yuri Ushakov told reporters that this progress should encourage Kiev to “move towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict,” even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly demanded a permanent peace agreement and European governments have accused Putin of feigning interest in talks as the Russian military continues to pressure Ukraine.
The Kremlin hopes that the Iran war will bring a financial windfall from rising oil prices, divert global attention from the Ukraine war, deplete the West’s arsenals and force the United States and its NATO allies to reduce military support to Kiev.
Zelenskiy, meanwhile, hopes Ukraine will gain greater international diplomatic influence against Moscow by providing the United States and its Gulf partners with the most advanced and battle-tested drone technology for the war in the Middle East.
He also wants a reciprocal supply of advanced American-made air defense missiles that Ukraine needs to counter Russian attacks.
