Russia touts gains on all fronts as Zelensky warns of 2 more Moscow's offensives after 3 failures
Russia's highest-ranking military officer toured front-line positions in Ukraine on Sept. 17 and claimed Moscow’s forces were advancing on all fronts, with the heaviest fighting around the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
General Valery Gerasimov, Russia's chief of staff of the armed forces, noted that troops were making progress in Donetsk, as well as further west in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
"Our troops in the zone of the special military operation are advancing in practically all directions," the ministry quoted Gerasimov as saying.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify these claims.
The Russian army has been unable to secure any front line breakthroughs or capture a single major city, with overall Russian advances during the three summer months limited to an estimated 0.3% of Ukrainian territory. Russia's main efforts have been concentrated in Donetsk Oblast.
Gerasimov also said Russian forces were making progress near Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv Oblast and in Yampil, further east.
Ukrainian officials, however, paint a different picture. President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in a Sept. 16 interview with Sky News, said Russia had failed in its last three offensives and was now preparing two more large-scale campaigns.
"They are preparing for two more offensive operations in the fall," Zelensky said. "There were already three of them, and ahead... there are two more heavy offensive campaigns."
"On the whole, I am truly pleased that the last three Russian offensive drives have failed, though they are planning two more serious offensives," he added. "In my view, this is an important signal."
Since November 2022, Moscow has gained less than 1% of additional Ukrainian territory, despite its 2025 summer offensive advancing at one of the fastest rates since late 2024.
The limited progress contrasts with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported aim of capturing the entire Donbas by the end of 2025. According to Reuters, Putin believes his forces are “winning” despite minimal gains.
Zelensky attributed Russian setbacks to manpower and equipment losses.
"They lost because there were a large number of casualties among the personnel and a large number of lost equipment," he said. "What I said to the Europeans and what I said in the White House... the Russians will not be able to take our east."
Zelensky also dismissed Russian threats against other regions. "Lies and manipulation," he said when asked about claims Russia could capture regional capital of Sumy. Earlier this year, the Russian army seized several villages in Sumy Oblast, but in early September Zelensky said the offensive had been "completely thwarted."
"I believe that the Russians are doing worse than they expected," he added. "They are doing much worse than they told Putin. He does not know about it."
Reports from the battlefield suggest Russia’s claimed advances are far less prominent than described. A Ukrainian commander said his forces had repelled a Russian push near Pokrovsk, while the DeepState, an open-source monitoring group, reported Ukrainian successes in a nearby town. A spokesperson for a Ukrainian unit near Kupiansk said an attempted Russian advance on the city had ended with many Russian soldiers taken prisoner.
"And the heaviest fighting is occurring in the Krasnoarmeisk direction," Gerasimov said, using the Soviet-era name for Pokrovsk. "Where the enemy, by any means and taking no account of losses, is trying unsuccessfully to stop our advances and seize back the initiative."
He added that Ukraine had committed some of its strongest units to the area and "that facilitates the advance of our troops in other sectors."
