KYIV, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian officials are making conflicting claims of battlefield success in their 4-year-old war, with Ukraine saying it has pushed back Moscow’s forces in some areas on the frontline but the Kremlin insisting Russia’s offensive on its neighbor is progressing.
At the same time, Russia’s almost daily airstrikes on civilian areas in Ukraine continued, with overnight drone strikes on two cities injuring at least 14 people, including two children, emergency services said on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 122 of 137 drones launched by Russia overnight.
US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine have stalled as Washington’s attention has been drawn by the Iran war, which has drawn international attention from Ukraine’s plight as it struggles to contain Russia’s massive military presence.
Despite the troop shortage, Ukrainian forces have retaken almost all of the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk industrial region during a recent counteroffensive, driving Russian forces from more than 400 square kilometers (150 square miles), Major General Oleksandr Komarenko said in an interview with local media outlet RBC-U published on Tuesday.
He described the overall situation on the frontline as difficult but under control, adding that heavy fighting continued near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine and Oleksandrivka in the south, where Russian forces were concentrating their main effort.
There was no independent verification of his description of the military situation.
However, the latest Ukrainian counterattacks “are having tactical, operational and strategic consequences that could disrupt Russia’s spring-summer 2026 offensive campaign plan,” the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said late Monday.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump late Monday that Russian forces were “rather successfully advancing” in Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said.
That progress should “encourage” Kyiv to “move towards a negotiated settlement of the conflict” – with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly pushing for a peace deal and European governments accusing Putin of showing interest in talks.
The Kremlin hopes the Iran war will bring an economic windfall from rising oil prices, distract global attention from the Ukraine war, drive Western arms and force the US and its NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy hopes that Ukraine will win more international diplomatic leverage against Moscow by supplying the United States and its Gulf partners with its sophisticated and battle-tested drone technology for war in the Middle East.
They are seeking a reciprocal supply of advanced American-made air defense missiles that Ukraine needs to counter Russian attacks.
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(tags to translate)General News(T)Iran War(T)Russia Ukraine War(T)World News(T)Article(T)130925844
