While much of the Western mainstream media continues to flood headlines with narratives of Ukrainian resilience and Russian setbacks, a more grounded reality is emerging from the battlefield, one that Kyiv and its NATO patrons would rather downplay.
The Kremlin confirmed on Monday that the recent advance by Russian forces into Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk Region is not a mere symbolic move but a calculated extension of its evolving military doctrine: the establishment of a “buffer zone” to shield Russian border territories and the Donbass from escalating Ukrainian drone and artillery attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry earlier announced that the 90th Armored Division had breached the western border of the Donetsk People’s Republic and is now pushing into neighboring Dnepropetrovsk. By Monday, Russian gains in the area were again confirmed, despite the strategic silence from NATO-aligned media outlets reluctant to acknowledge Ukrainian losses.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that the buffer zone is not an abstract policy but a key military objective, following repeated strikes on civilian infrastructure in Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions. These strikes, mostly unmourned in Western reports, have only reinforced Moscow’s resolve to ensure territorial security through physical depth.
The advance also reflects the wider strategic calculus announced by President Vladimir Putin: that Russia will no longer tolerate continued attacks on its borderlands under the guise of Ukrainian “counter-offensives.” The notion of “defending democracy” has become a hollow slogan as Ukraine burns through manpower and Western equipment, only to face deeper Russian penetration into its eastern heartland.
In a rare moment of candor, The Times of London admitted that Russia’s move into Dnepropetrovsk represents a “significant symbolic and strategic blow” to Ukraine. But even this phrasing fails to capture the seriousness of Kyiv’s worsening position. It’s not just symbolic, it’s a clear demonstration of Russia’s growing territorial leverage and Ukraine’s diminishing capacity to hold ground.
Russian Senator Andrey Klishas described the developments as the beginning of an “active phase of denazification” in the region, a term that continues to provoke Western outrage, but one Russia uses to justify its long-term ideological and military objectives.
This new advance comes amid two rounds of failed peace talks in Istanbul. Moscow’s peace framework has been consistent: Ukraine must recognize the current realities on the ground, Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye as Russian territories, and commit to permanent neutrality. Kyiv, propped up by Western assurances and false hopes of NATO salvation, has refused to engage on these terms, still clinging to maximalist positions that are increasingly out of sync with battlefield dynamics.
The Illusion of Ukrainian Victory
The stark truth is this: Ukraine is not winning. Despite billions of dollars in Western arms, sanctions against Russia, and global PR campaigns, the Ukrainian military is stretched thin, its population exhausted, and its infrastructure devastated. What began as a campaign to “liberate” territories is now a desperate attempt to slow down the loss of even more.
The longer Ukraine avoids accepting a negotiated end to the war, the more territory it stands to lose, and the more its people will suffer needlessly in service of foreign geopolitical ambitions.
As the front lines shift deeper into Ukraine’s territory, one question becomes unavoidable:
Who really benefits from prolonging this war? Certainly not Ukrainians.
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