Ukraine Risks Losing Swathes of Territory Regained From Russia Earlier

The assessment by a Ukrainian commander that Russian forces are launching attacks across the entire frontline has raised speculation that Kyiv's troops may be forced to retreat from hard-won territory.

In a Telegram post on Sunday, Ukrainian Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the situation on the eastern frontline remains difficult. He and other commanders in the east had taken measures "to ensure the stability of our defense, the preservation of the lives of our soldiers and the rational use of ammunition."

"The enemy is not stopping conducting offensive operations along the entire front," Syrskyi said in the post, according to a translation. When contacted for comment, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told Newsweek it had no further comment beyond Syrskyi's remarks.

Earlier this month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had said his country's troops were "advancing in all directions" in Ukraine. It came as Ukraine's main commander, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that the war had reached a stalemate following a counteroffensive by Kyiv that analysts have widely considered a failure.

German journalist Julian Röpcke, who is the senior editor of security policy and conflict at the newspaper Bild, said that Syrskyi's post indicated that further Ukrainian withdrawals from Avdiivka, Klishchiivka, Staromaiorske, perhaps even East Kupiansk "and other places are likely to be affected."

Ukrainian forces are holding onto Avdiivka. Russian forces have lost a high number of troops in the offensive they launched there in October. The city holds the key to Moscow's complete occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

However, Klishchiivka, on the southern flank of Bakhmut, also in Donetsk oblast, was a morale-boosting gain for Ukrainian forces when they recaptured it from Russian forces in September 2023. Moscow's troops retreated from Staromaiorske in July 2023 and from Kupiansk in Kharkiv oblast in September 2022 following a Ukrainian victory there.

"Slow movements to supply the Ukrainians with Western weapons allowed the Russians to fortify their positions in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine," Mark Temnycky, a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, said. "They have also built up their forces in these areas."

"As a result, this has given the Russians two areas where they can launch future attacks, where they will attempt to push Ukrainian forces back," he told Newsweek.

"Holdups in Western defense aid will only allow the Russians a chance to challenge for strategic positions in the south and east," he said. "This could result in deadlier battles in the future, mirroring the events that occurred in Bakhmut and Avdiivka."

Meanwhile, Röpcke criticized Western leaders, such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for not providing enough weapons to Kyiv and said that Ukraine's allies are pushing for a negotiation.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conducted a series of meetings with key allies in Washington as he sought additional support since U.S. aid funding remains in question. "It doesn't take a genius to see that the West wants to force Ukraine to sit down at the negotiating table with Russia," Röpcke posted to 170,000 followers.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on December 8 that Russian forces have been ordered to capture Avdiivka and Kupiansk before the start of presidential elections in March 2024 in which Vladimir Putin is widely expected to win.

Update 12/12/23, 10:43 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Mark Temnycky and a response from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.