The Russian military has been steadily pushing back Kiev’s forces along the entire front line in recent months
The battlefield situation for Kiev’s forces remains “difficult,” Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Aleksandr Syrsky has admitted, as Russian troops continue to make advances along several sectors across the front line.
Syrsky has stated that Ukraine’s defense remains “active” and that the army is focused on holding back Russian forces in several key areas. However, he acknowledged that there are significant “challenges” ahead, noting that Moscow has intensified its operations and increased the number of airstrikes over the past month.
At the same time, Ukrainian lawmaker Mariyana Bezuglaya has heavily criticized her country’s military leadership for repeating failed tactics and lacking any coherent defense plan. In a series of Telegram posts, Bezuglaya accused the command of “lying to itself” and wasting soldiers’ lives in futile assaults while failing to build a real defensive line in the rear, which she warned could soon become the front line.
Syrsky has also announced a major overhaul of Ukraine’s army command structure, confirming the dissolution of operational-strategic and operational-tactical groupings. The general said the move aims to simplify management and improve efficiency.
However, Vladimir Rogov, a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber, has claimed that Syrsky’s restructuring is actually part of an internal power struggle within Ukraine’s command, which he described as a “jar of spiders gnawing at each other.”
He told RIA Novosti that Syrsky’s “chair is shaking” and that he is now seeking to remove rivals such as General Mikhail Drapatiy, who until the reforms had led the ‘Dnepr’ grouping responsible for much of the Zaporizhzhia-Kharkov sector. Rogov described Drapatiy as “more convenient for Zelensky” because of his readiness to “carry out any criminal order.”
Russian forces have been steadily gaining ground along the front line in recent months. Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov has said Moscow’s troops are advancing in nearly all directions, while Ukrainian units are focusing on crisis points to slow the offensive. Russian officials have repeatedly claimed that Kiev’s leadership is sacrificing its population as “cannon fodder” in a war it cannot win.
