Ukrainian forces have stalled the Russian offensive in the eastern Donetsk region in recent months and have started to win back small patches of land, according to Ukrainian soldiers and military analysts.
Russia still holds the initiative, and conducts dozens of assaults across the eastern front every day, the soldiers and analysts say. But after more than 15 months on the offensive, Russian brigades have been depleted and Moscow is struggling to replace destroyed equipment, offering limited opportunities that Ukrainian forces are trying to exploit.
“The Russian offensive effort in Donetsk has stalled in recent months due to poor weather, exhaustion among Russian forces, and effective Ukrainian adaptation to the way Russian troops have been fighting,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
While it is too early to say the front has stabilized in Donetsk, he said, the situation has improved as Ukraine finds innovative ways to compensate for its shortage of troops.
The pause in intelligence is expected to be among the topics Ukrainian and American officials will discuss this week at their first high-level in-person meeting since a blowup between President Trump and President Zelensky at the White House on Feb. 28. Mr. Zelensky said the meeting will be held Tuesday in Saudi Arabia and the State Department says Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be part of those talks. (Mr. Zelensky also said he would meet in Saudi Arabia on Monday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.)
Western military analysts and U.S. officials believe that the order to hold back equipment is likely to take several months to have a significant impact on the front. But the loss of intelligence is already hurting Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian command centers, logistics hubs and concentrations of troops behind the front lines.
Ukrainian soldiers said the lack of intelligence was especially problematic in the Kursk region of Russia, where Russian and North Korean soldiers are on the offensive and have rapidly advanced. Ukraine considers its hold on Kursk to be crucial to use as leverage in any negotiations to end the war. The soldiers, speaking from the front by telephone on Friday and Saturday, requested anonymity to discuss sensitive operations.
A senior U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said that the pause on sharing intelligence had hurt Ukraine’s ability to detect and attack Russian forces in Kursk and hampered its ability to strike high-value targets.
Keith Kellogg, a retired Army general who is the special U.S. envoy for Ukraine, acknowledged that the move would have a “significant” impact on Ukraine’s battlefield conduct.
Ukraine has proposed an immediate partial truce in air and sea operations and has acknowledged that some territory would remain under Russian occupation. But American officials have said the suspension would stay in effect until the Ukrainians bend to unspecified White House demands.
Many of the war’s hardest fought battles continue to be concentrated along the 260-mile front in the Donbas region, which includes Donetsk.
While Russia made significant gains in the southern part of the Donbas last year, it remains far from capturing the remaining cities and towns that make up the backbone of the Ukrainian defense.
This is a snapshot of where things stand in three hot spots in the region.
The Defense of Pokrovsk
Russian forces advanced in December to within about three miles of Pokrovsk, a city at the center of many of the rail and road lines for the Donbas region.
But well-prepared Ukrainian defenses have prevented a frontal assault, so the Russians have been trying to envelop the city from the south.
As the Russian advance slowed, then stalled, Ukrainian forces have engaged in a series of localized counterattacks to regain advantageous positions.
Maj. Taras, a deputy battalion commander in the 68th Jaeger Brigade, described one operation last month to retake part of Dachenske, a village south of Pokrovsk.
“We stocked up on ammunition, conducted, let’s say, a mini-artillery preparation, identified in which parts of the village the enemy was located, and delivered a massive strike there,” said Major Taras, who like many soldiers asked to be identified by his first name in accordance with military protocol.
Then two infantry assault teams attacked.
The battle lasted about 90 minutes and by the time it was over the Ukrainians controlled about half of the village, a claim supported by combat footage verified by military analysts.
But, Major Taras said, “to fully control and take the entire village, more people and more resources are needed.”
It was indicative of the fighting in general, he said, with Ukrainians trying to exploit Russian weaknesses but limited by their own shortages of troops and firepower.
Col. Oleksii Khilchenko, the commander of the Third Operational Brigade of the National Guard, said Russian forces notably reduced attacks last month after suffering heavy losses. At one point, he said, the Russians were sending injured soldiers on crutches to join assaults. It was not possible to independently confirm the claim.
But it would be a mistake, he cautioned, to underestimate the enemy.
“The Russians are constantly regrouping their forces, replenishing losses and redeploying units from other directions,” he said.
Major Taras said Russian forces were engaged in “detailed reconnaissance of our positions, our rear, and our logistical routes every day” and were “planning, preparing, and looking to launch either a creeping or a sudden offensive.”
Street by Street Fighting in Toretsk
The strategic city of Toretsk has been the scene of furious urban combat for eight months.
Capt. Bohdan Ravlikovskyi, of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov, said Ukrainians have found themselves holding positions on the same street or even in the same building as the enemy.
“There have even been cases where the enemy crawls forward with mines strapped to their backs to blow up our positions — crawling under a building, throwing in mines, and detonating them,” he said.
The objective of Russian assaults in Toretsk is the same as it is elsewhere: to penetrate as deeply as possible using motorcycles, civilian vehicles, armored vehicles or on foot. If they can hold the position, they await reinforcements and try to push again.
But in recent days, it is the Ukrainians who have been advancing in parts of Toretsk in localized counterattacks and furious clashes, soldiers said.
The Russian entry into the city in August came at a moment when Ukrainian forces were struggling across the eastern front.
Critical shortages of troops and ammunition — made worse by a six-month delay in American assistance as well as organizational issues — resulted in Russia’s seizing about 1,600 square miles of Ukrainian territory in 2024.
Ukrainian forces remain outmanned and outgunned. But with the assistance of an ever expanding constellation of drones, the heavy losses they are inflicting on Russian forces are taking a growing toll.
The Destroyed Fortress Town: Chasiv Yar
Lt. Mykola, a 37-year old commander with the Ukrainian 5th Assault Brigade, was first assigned to a defensive position around Chasiv Yar, a vital hilltop town, two years ago.
“We are still holding almost the same lines,” he said.
After the fall of the eastern city of Bakhmut in May of 2023, it took the Russians nearly a year to advance eight miles toward Chasiv Yar. The Russians have released video showing how they have now covered the road to the town with netting to protect their supply line from Ukrainian drone attacks.
Like Toretsk to the south, Chasiv Yar serves as a buffer holding Russian forces back from a direct assault on Kostiantynivka and other cities still under Kyiv’s control in the Donetsk region.
The Russians mounted their first direct assaults on Chasiv Yar in April 2024 and have employed a range of tactics.
Russian warplanes leveled Ukrainian fortifications with powerful guided bombs. They have attacked with armored columns and in small infantry-led assaults. Sometimes they sneak in behind Ukrainian lines using pipelines and tunnels.
Over many months, they have clawed their way into the town and captured much of it. But the soldiers said that large areas are “gray zones,” with neither side in complete control.
Lieutenant Mykola said the fighting was relentless but the enemy was also suffering.
“We see their declining troop quality and quantity, which, fortunately for us, is worsening,” he said.
Eric Schmitt and Liubov Sholudko contributed reporting.