President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday held his latest meeting with senior officers of the Armed Forces General Staff, at a forward command post in the conflict with Ukraine. Forty minutes of the conference were video-broadcast, including the lengthy report by Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov. The last previous such meeting took place in early July.
In opening remarks, Putin stated that Russia now controls all but 10 percent of the Donetsk People’s Republic and all but 16.5 percent of Zaporozhye Region, as well as the entirety of the Lugansk People’s Republic. He did not mention Kherson Region. He placed special emphasis on the areas outside of the Donbass (DPR and LPR) or Novorossiya (Zaporozhye and Kherson), the four regions claimed as parts of the Russian Federation after referendums were held. In the Sumy Region and the Kharkov Region, in particular, he noted that the Russians are advancing or holding territory. These advances are for “establishing a security zone in the adjacent [to Russia] territory of Ukraine,” as Russia decided to do in the wake of the Armed Forces of Ukraine invading its Kursk Region in 2024. “Our goal is to ensure the absolute security of Russia’s border regions for the future, and we do not intend to make this a subject of potential peace negotiations with Ukraine,” Putin said.
Putin described Russian advances as “accelerating,” and reported that Russian forces have taken control of more than 6,500 sq km of territory this year.
Gerasimov’s briefing and those of commanders of the Russian Groups of Forces were very detailed. Outstanding points included these:
• He announced full Russian control of Dobropolye in the DPR, an assertion that surprised analysts because Russian troops were believed to be only on the town’s outskirts. The absence of geolocated videos showing Russian soldiers waving flags inside the city may be explained by what Putin also stated, namely that “search operations are now under way to locate and eliminate individual Ukrainian service members hiding in basements.” That is, one side may control the commanding positions within a town, while the other side’s forces, operating in small groups, can still attack them. Dobropolye, located north of the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) which was fought over throughout 2025, is a key position because it is situated behind, i.e. west of, the Donbass arc “fortress” cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, and Druzhkovka, towards which the Russians are also advancing from the east.
• He stated that Russian forces are now 5 km from the southern outskirts of Zaporozhye city, the industrial center on the Dnieper which is the largest city within the four annexed regions, not yet taken by the Russians.
