Ukraine War Map Shows Kyiv Regain Ground in Two Major Strongholds

Ukrainian forces have advanced against Russian troops close the two major eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, according to new reports, despite continued gains for Moscow elsewhere along the front line.

Why It Matters

Fierce clashes have continued despite U.S. President Donald Trump entering negotiations with Russia for a ceasefire deal, cutting out Kyiv from talks in Saudi Arabia. Officials in Ukraine and Europe had feared the Republican's pledge to end the war would come at Kyiv's expense.

Reports have also suggested Ukraine and the U.S. have agreed the outlines of a major minerals deal. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit Washington later this week.

What To Know

Moscow has been steadily advancing toward the Ukrainian hubs of Pokrovsk and Toretsk for months. Both are in the eastern Donetsk region, part of the Donbas region that Moscow has claimed it has annexed from Kyiv but does not fully control.

Russia has skirted around Pokrovsk, a city key to Ukrainian defenses in the east, rather than fighting inside the settlement.

Further to the east, fighting has blazed on for months in and around Toretsk, a city providing a vital link for Ukraine to logistics bases at Kostiantynivka, to the northwest of Toretsk. Russia claimed to have seized Toretsk earlier this month, which Ukraine denied.

Popular Ukrainian war-tracking blog, DeepState, reported on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had advanced in Uspenivka, a village southwest of Pokrovsk.

One of Russia's prominent Russian military bloggers—accounts often used as sources of information in lieu of official commentary from the Kremlin—also reported that Russian troops had been pushed out of Uspenivka. Another pro-Kremlin account reported Moscow had lost the center of the settlement, with Russia "holding the defense."

Ukraine's air assault forces separately said on Wednesday that paratroopers had seized control of Kotlyne, a settlement southwest of Pokrovsk. Russian control of Kotlyne would have allowed Moscow to take control of a key highway running from Pokrovsk west, toward the city of Dnipro, the Ukrainian military said. Newsweek could not independently verify this report.

Further east in the Donetsk region, one Russian military blogger reported that Ukraine had launched counteroffensive in Toretsk on Sunday, using U.S.-donated armored vehicles in a fresh assault. Several pro-Kremlin accounts said Ukrainian forces had attacked in northern Toretsk.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank, which tracks daily changes to the front line, said on Tuesday that Russia had attacked near Toretsk and east of the settlement in recent days, but made no confirmed advances.

However, the think tank said in its daily analysis that Moscow had advanced in the western Russian Kursk region, including in the center of the village of Pogrebki. Several Russian accounts reported that the village had been captured, with fighting continuing immediately south of Pogrebki.

Russia has been trying to end Ukrainian control of a chunk of territory in its Kursk region after Kyiv launched a surprise incursion in the late summer. Moscow has managed to peel back some of Ukraine's grip, but Kyiv has retained its hold over a chunk of territory, including the town of Sudzha. Pogrebki lies north of Sudzha.

The Ukrainian DeepState tracker said on Tuesday that the Kremlin had captured Novoocheretuvate, a Donetsk village close to Russian-controlled Velyka Novosilka. Russian troops advanced just east of the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Who Said What

The Institute for the Study of War said on Tuesday: "Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Pokrovsk direction on February 25 but did not advance."

Ukraine's military said on Wednesday that Russia had attacked seven times around Toretsk in the past day, and 25 times close to Pokrovsk, including around Kotlyne.

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether a ceasefire deal brokered by the U.S. will be agreed in coming weeks, and whether Ukraine will sign such an agreement. French President Emmanuel Macron, visiting Washington earlier this week, said that an agreement could be "feasible" within weeks.