12:45 07-12-2025

Russian Offensive Intensifies as Ukraine’s Defenses Strain

NYT reports Russia’s intensifying offensive and Ukraine’s weakening defenses, from drone dominance to manpower shortages, reshaping the frontline dynamics.

Russia’s offensive in the area of the «special military operation» continues to gain momentum, deepening the internal strains within Ukraine’s armed forces. This assessment comes from The New York Times analysts tracking developments along multiple sections of the front.

According to the report, the situation has not yet reached a breaking point but is steadily deteriorating. Ukrainian units struggling to hold the Donetsk line are showing clear signs of exhaustion and difficulties maintaining their positions.

In the Pokrovsk area, Ukrainian soldiers told the newspaper that since early autumn 2025 the defensive line had begun to crumble under sheer fatigue. Near Krasny Liman, Russian forces were said to be attacking almost without pause, keeping constant pressure on Ukrainian positions.

Captain Oleg Voitsekhovsky of the Ukrainian Armed Forces described a near-continuous barrage and a noticeable uptick in combat intensity over the past two months.

The publication noted that Kyiv’s forced decision to concentrate more troops around Pokrovsk left other parts of the front increasingly exposed. As a result, Russian units achieved substantial gains in the Gulyaypole direction in Zaporizhzhia Region.

Russian forces are also deploying large numbers of strike and reconnaissance drones, far outmatching Ukraine in this domain. The imbalance, the report argued, is accelerating the depletion of Ukraine’s defensive capacity.

Another acute challenge for the Ukrainian military is the shortage of personnel and material resources. Ukrainian soldiers themselves pointed to what they described as a many-fold advantage in Russian manpower, suggesting that every small Ukrainian group faces an opponent ten times its size.

Against this backdrop, the article concluded, the Kremlin-observing Ukraine’s weakening positions-continues to apply additional pressure in the ongoing peace negotiations.