KYIV: Russian forces have rapidly advanced in a narrow but important sector of the front line, the Ukrainian military and analysts said Tuesday, days ahead of a meeting between the Russian and US presidents.
Moscow’s army, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the sprawling front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them.
The Ukrainian army said in a statement on Tuesday that there had been fighting around the village of Kucheriv Yar in the Donetsk region, acknowledging Russian gains.
The Ukrainian DeepState blog, which retains close connections with the military, showed Russian advances around 10 kilometers (six miles) over around two days.
The corridor now under Russian control threatens the town of Dobropillya, a mining town that civilians are fleeing and that has been coming under Russian drone attacks.
It also threatens the embattled and destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, which is one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine.
A popular military blogger, Sternenko, wrote on Telegram that Russian forces during the advance had taken control of parts of a highway connecting important population centers in Donetsk.
“The situation is critical,” he wrote earlier.
The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based observatory, meanwhile said: “Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are reportedly infiltrating areas near Dobropillya.”
“It is premature to call the Russian advances in the Dobropillya area an operational-level breakthrough,” it added, cautioning that the coming days would be key to fending off the attack.
US President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to meet Vladimir Putin on Friday has described the summit as a “feel-out meeting” to gauge the Russian leader’s ideas for ending the war in Ukraine.
European leaders meanwhile are rushing to ensure respect for Kyiv’s interests.
