Russia Nears Capture of Key Ukrainian Towns After Year of Grinding Assaults

For more than a year Russian forces have advanced slowly without seizing urban strongholds. Military experts and independent battlefield monitors say Moscow now appears poised to complete control of three strategic areas — Huliaipole in the southeast and the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad about 60 miles northeast.

Securing all three would give Russia an urban foothold for basing troops, organizing logistics and gaining leverage in U.S.-mediated peace talks. The most threatening push is in the Zaporizhzhia region. Huliaipole is almost entirely under Russian control; Capt.

Dmytro Filatov said Ukrainian forces still held a few buildings but that "the majority of the town is fully under enemy control," adding that about 95 percent of the troops there were Russian. Beyond Huliaipole lie open fields, leaving Ukrainian defenders few built-up areas to slow advances, while Russian forces are roughly 15 miles from Zaporizhzhia’s southern entrance and within range of small attack drones.

Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia region

russia, ukraine, huliaipole, pokrovsk, myrnohrad, zaporizhzhia, russian advance, attack drones, urban foothold, peace talks