Ukraine regains control of front-line areas in south-east and east, army chief says

KYIV – Ukraine has regained control of 480 sq km of territory in the south-eastern and eastern parts of the front since late January, its army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said, adding that Russia was continuing its spring offensive.

After visiting the front line, General Syrskyi said that Ukraine had returned to control over eight settlements in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the east and four settlements in the south-eastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Despite Ukraine’s successes, Russian troops were pressing ahead with a spring offensive, he said.

“Russian troops are not abandoning their plans for further offensive operations and are regrouping their available forces and equipment,” Gen Syrskyi said on the Telegram app late on April 5.

“Despite significant losses in personnel and military equipment, the invaders aim to seize more Ukrainian territory and establish a ‘buffer zone’ in the Dnipropetrovsk region,” he said, adding that the Ukrainian troops maintained defence lines, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that the front-line situation for Ukraine was the best since the middle of 2025.

Military analysts said that Ukrainian counter-attacks in the south-east of the country were helping to disrupt Russian efforts around Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region, and overall, the Russian spring offensive along more than 1,200km of the front line.

“Ukrainian counter attacks in the Hulyaipole and Oleksandrivka directions continue to present the Russian military command with dilemmas that overstretched Russian forces appear challenged to meet,” the Washington-based non-profit Institute for the Study of War said in a daily report on April 6.

Russian troops continued to gain ground in the eastern Donetsk region, pressing on in the north of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub, the Russian state media quoted Russia’s defence ministry as saying last week.

The battle for Pokrovsk has raged on since mid-2024 as Russia seeks to consolidate its control of the Donetsk region.

Gen Syrskyi said he also visited the Pokrovsk area, and ordered additional ammunition and other supplies to strengthen the Ukrainian troops there.

With the diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled, Ukraine has also intensified its long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure.

Over the past two weeks, Ukrainian troops targeted Russian Baltic sea ports and oil infrastructure in the Leningrad region. REUTERS