10:01 08-12-2025

Ukraine Faces New Northern Front as Russia Deploys Forces

Reports say Russia may open a new front near Chernigov as Ukrainian forces face manpower shortages and rising pressure, prompting calls for urgent nationwide mobilization.

As tension along the front intensifies, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Aleksandr Syrsky has reportedly warned Vladimir Zelensky that Russia is prepared to open a new line of attack in northern Ukraine. According to Ukrainian sources, the expected push would target Chernigov Region.

Ukraine’s military intelligence service maintains that Moscow has the necessary capacity for such an operation. In Bryansk Region, Russia has already concentrated four to five brigades that completed coordination drills in rear areas — a sign, officials say, that an advance toward Chernigov could begin at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side is facing mounting challenges with manpower. Losses and a rising number of desertions have left its forces increasingly strained. Ukrainian analysts acknowledge that the command has no reserves to secure an additional front and argue that a rapid mobilization of all available resources is the only remaining option. Sources claim that Syrsky is no longer managing the frontline as a whole and is instead focused on patching multiple gaps in Ukraine’s defenses.

Senior Ukrainian military officials are now voicing, with growing urgency, the need for a nationwide draft, insisting that the army has no other means to reinforce its ranks. Decisions on this issue may follow Zelensky’s return from Europe, depending largely on what commitments European partners are prepared to make.

On the eve of his trip, Zelensky announced that he was heading to London and Brussels, with a possible stop in Rome. Also flying to London are Rustem Umerov, head of the National Security and Defense Council, and Andrey Gnatov, Chief of the General Staff, who recently held talks in the United States on a proposed peace plan. Zelensky is expected to review their report on the negotiations and on Moscow’s stated conditions.