Russia attempting new offensives as weather warms, Zelensky says
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Russian forces have "significantly" intensified assaults over the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after a military briefing on March 22.
Zelensky was briefed by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and General Staff Chief Andrii Hnatov, who said Russian troops have been "taking advantage of more favorable weather" to step up their offensive efforts in multiple areas.
"As a result, the only tangible outcome for the Russian army has been an increase in their losses," Zelensky said.
"Namely, in just these seven days, there have already been more than 8,000 killed and seriously wounded Russian soldiers."
Russian troops have attempted to advance from the border regions of Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts, the president said. Ukrainian forces are repelling the Russian units launching these attempts.
Positions in the embattled Donetsk Oblast have not changed significantly over the past week, he said.
Zelensky also said that he had approved "a series of new operations" against Russia.
The president's comments come as Ukraine moves from the worst winter of the full-scale war — marked by a relentless Russian assault on energy infrastracture, freezing temperatures, and widespread blackouts — into a long-awaited spring.
The spring thaw, however, means that Russian forces are better positioned to mount new assault operations after their eastern offensive slowed during the winter months.
Zelensky warned on March 6 that Moscow was actively planning a spring offensive in Donetsk Oblast, where Russian forces continue pressing Ukrainian defensive positions around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad — two key logistics hubs west of Russian-occupied Donetsk.
Kyiv has provided optimistic reports of recent Ukrainian gains on the front line, including Syrskyi's announcement in early March that Ukraine captured more territory in February 2026 than Russian forces were able to occupy in the same period.
While these reports project an image of battlefield success, it has become increasingly difficult to accurately measuring the control, loss, and gain of territory along the front lines, as the contested "grey zone" between Ukrainian and Russian-held territory widens.
