Kremlin forces have punctured Ukraine’s defensive line in the Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian research group DeepState, ahead of critical U.S.-Russia talks on the future of the war.

The breach exposes issues in the Ukrainian army, military analysts said, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the new assaults show that Russia is not seeking an end to hostilities.

“[Vladimir Putin] is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war,” Zelenskyy said Monday evening. “On the contrary, [Russians] are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations.”

On Friday, Russian leader Putin will meet American President Donald Trump in Alaska to potentially discuss ending the war between Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy has voiced concerns that the Russians would try to deceive the U.S. about their true intentions. 

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has reportedly demanded Ukraine surrender parts of the Donetsk region that Moscow does not fully control as part of a possible ceasefire deal, which Kyiv has rejected.

Though the Ukrainian military denied that Russian troops secured new positions in Donetsk after advancing roughly 15 kilometers in the past five days through a narrow sector, DeepState, which uses open-source intelligence to monitor front-line movements, says senior commanders are systematically downplaying the scale of the problem — an assessment echoed by some military figures on the ground.

Though it is “premature” to call the Russian advances in Donetsk an operational-level breakthrough, the Institute for Study of War wrote Monday, Russian troops will “very likely seek to mature their tactical advances into an operational-level breakthrough in the coming days.” 

This advance impedes Ukrainian logistics and puts several cities, which are critical defense strongholds in the region, at risk of encirclement and loss.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Monday that it decided to deploy additional forces to the region. 

Bohdan Krotevych, a former lieutenant colonel in Ukraine’s National Guard, wrote on X that the situation in the area is “catastrophic.” He blamed the fragmentation of units and personnel across the front line and the absence of a clear strategy from senior leadership, a recurring criticism in recent months from Ukrainian military personnel and volunteers.

Ukrainian soldiers have also long warned about false battlefield reporting and senior commanders’ lack of awareness of the situation on the ground.