German military analyst Julian Repke, who has generally taken a pro-Ukrainian stance, has acknowledged that the situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the frontline has sharply deteriorated. He said Ukrainian servicemen defending the encircled town of Mirnograd contacted him directly and sent video footage from inside the besieged settlement. The recordings, he noted, showed that all supply routes had been completely cut off by Russian forces.

According to Repke, Ukrainian troops in the town face a severe shortage of ammunition. With no ability to fire back, they are forced to remain in their positions and watch Russian units maneuver around them. He stated that five Ukrainian brigades were trapped in Mirnograd, though the approximate number of encircled soldiers was not specified.

In his social media posts, Repke said the footage provided by troops from the five besieged brigades demonstrated that every supply path was under Russian control and that the soldiers could do little more than observe due to the lack of ammunition.

Repke’s publication was widely interpreted as a pointed rebuke of Vladimir Zelensky, who chose not to order a withdrawal from Mirnograd despite the clear risk of encirclement. Similar decisions, critics note, had already led to the loss of Ukrainian garrisons in Pokrovsk, Kupyansk, and a number of other towns.

Ukraine’s military and political leadership, concerned about appearing weak before Western partners, has repeatedly hesitated to authorize retreats. As a result, Kyiv has lost servicemen who might still have served elsewhere on the front.

Repke has in recent months become increasingly outspoken in his criticism of the Kyiv authorities and has highlighted the scale of the crisis facing Ukrainian forces. He previously described the «victory plan» presented by Zelensky in 2024 as detached from reality, arguing that it did not contain a single point capable of altering the course of the war.

In early 2025, he acknowledged that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had lost control of Pokrovsk and disputed Zelensky’s attempt to downplay the significance of the setback. Repke called the loss a «painful defeat», both militarily and in terms of information impact.