Russia ramps up offensive across multiple frontline sectors in Ukraine, exceeding 600 assaults in 4 days, Syrskyi says
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Russian forces intensified operations across multiple fronts in Ukraine, carrying out 619 assaults within four days, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Facebook on March 23.
The statement follows remarks by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said in mid-March that Ukrainian forces had repelled a large-scale Russian offensive planned since late 2025 and set for early March.
Russian troops attempted to breach Ukrainian defenses across several sectors of the front line between March 17 and 20, Syrskyi said.
Russian forces launched an offensive involving "tens of thousands of soldiers" and, after four days of fighting, lost 6,090 troops killed or wounded, with a total of 8,710 infantry losses over the past week, Syrskyi added.
Most Russian assaults took place in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast and the Oleksandrivka sector at the intersection of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts.
According to the commander-in-chief, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near Pokrovsk 163 times and near Oleksandrivka 96 times over the past four days.
Russian forces are also continuing attempts to advance in the Kostiantynivka and Ocheretyne sectors in Donetsk Oblast, the Lyman sector at the junction of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, and near the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Syrskyi said.
"Thanks to the professional and coordinated actions of Ukrainian troops, the enemy's offensive operations have been halted on several fronts," the commander-in-chief said.
"In some sectors of the front, intense fighting continues, but the enemy has been forced to regroup its forces."
The escalation comes as Ukraine has recently improved its battlefield position, with Kyiv reporting that Ukrainian forces in February liberated more territory than they lost for the first time in years, disrupting Russia's planned March offensive.
Yet analysts warn that Moscow is refocusing its efforts on the eastern front, where Russian troops continue to advance in key areas.
Moscow is attempting to bring in fresh units and is relying on worsening weather conditions to reduce the effectiveness of Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance, drones, and artillery, according to Syrskyi.
At the same time, Ukrainian forces have managed to "gain the initiative" in certain areas of the front line and to "carry out their own offensive operations using active defense tactics," Syrskyi said, without specifying which areas he was referring to.
