Top Russian officer claims advances on all Ukrainian fronts

A senior Russian military officer inspected front-line positions in Ukraine on September 17 and reported that Moscow’s forces are advancing on all fronts, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, with the heaviest fighting occurring around the logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

General Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of staff, said Russian troops were making progress in the eastern Donetsk region — the focal point of the conflict — as well as further west in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

“Our troops in the zone of the special military operation are advancing in practically all directions,” the Defence Ministry quoted Gerasimov as saying. He added that “the heaviest fighting is occurring in the Krasnoarmeisk direction,” 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.”

Gerasimov also claimed that the Ukrainian military had deployed its best-trained and most capable units from other areas, which he said “facilitates the advance of our troops in other sectors.”

In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces have maintained sustained attacks around Pokrovsk in Donetsk for several months. Gerasimov additionally reported progress in the capture of Kupiansk, a largely destroyed city in the Kharkiv region, and Yampil, further to the east.

However, his statements contrast with reports from Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to Sky News earlier this week, acknowledged the likelihood of new Russian offensives but said Moscow’s recent frontline operations had achieved little success.

“On the whole, I am truly pleased that the last three Russian offensive drives have failed, though they are planning two more serious offensives,” Zelenskyy said. “In my view, this is an important signal.”

A Ukrainian commander reported this week that his forces had repelled a Russian advance near Pokrovsk, while the open-source Ukrainian military blog DeepState cited successes in a nearby town. Additionally, a spokesperson for a Ukrainian unit near Kupiansk said on September 17 that a Russian attempt to advance on the town had led to many of its soldiers being captured.

By Tamilla Hasanova