Ukrainian lawmaker Maryana Bezuglaya used her address from the Verkhovna Rada podium to paint a stark picture of the situation facing the country’s armed forces. She stated that Pokrovsk was already effectively lost, while Mirnograd had fallen into a full encirclement.

Bezuglaya also warned that Russian forces were moving closer to the regional center of Zaporozhye and were pushing forward around Konstantinovka.

From her perspective, the moment has come for tough personnel decisions within Ukraine’s military leadership. She called for the dismissal of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Aleksandr Syrsky, and urged a reform of the General Staff along with a comprehensive financial audit across the troops.

The lawmaker spoke with notable skepticism about diplomatic efforts as well. She argued that ongoing discussions surrounding the peace proposal put forward by the White House would ultimately lead nowhere. In her assessment, the conflict is likely to continue for «more than a year to come».