A Ukrainian soldier in Donbass. Image: keystone
March 21, 2026, 2:50 p.mMar 21, 2026, 3:06 p.m
According to the Kiev General Staff, the fighting on the front in eastern Ukraine has intensified in recent days. The Ukrainian military speaks of high Russian losses. The General Staff’s morning report for Saturday said that 1,240 Russian soldiers had been injured or killed within 24 hours. There were 161 individual battles.
Such military statistics cannot be independently verified, but the reported numbers have recently been significantly higher than in previous weeks. Accordingly, the Russian attacks appear to have increased since Tuesday; on Wednesday there were 286 battles and 1,710 Russian soldiers eliminated. The numbers for Thursday and Friday were only slightly lower. The focus of the fighting is once again said to be the city of Pokrovsk in the Donbass industrial region, without any gains in territory being reported for one side or the other.
Is this already the Russian spring offensive?
Some military observers conclude from the data that Ukraine was able to repel a first Russian spring offensive. The US Institute for War Studies (ISW) wrote more cautiously that the Russian army was probably preparing for its spring/summer offensive with increased reconnaissance attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow maintains that its troops are advancing along the more than 1,000-kilometer-long front. However, Russian bloggers close to the military admit problems on front sections such as Kupyansk in the north and Hulyaipole in the south.
The defense capability of the Ukrainian army relies primarily on the extensive use of drones over the combat zone. In February, according to some calculations, Ukraine regained more area than it lost for the first time since 2023. Russian head of state Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale invasion of the neighboring country more than four years ago. (sda/dpa)