Russia Is Seeking To Encircle Several Ukrainian Cities. Ukraine Is Reportedly Managing To Push Back.

Ukraine has managed to recapture large swaths of territory in northern Donetsk as it pushes back against Russia’s operation to encircle its “fortress belt” of cities.

Kyiv’s operation “Vivaldi” managed to recapture 176 square kilometers of territory, including the freeing of three villages and the restoring of control of two more, Reuters detailed, citing Brigadier-General Andrii Biletskyi.

Moscow’s offensive is targeting a network of industrial centers that includes Sloviansk, Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka. Their roads, railways and urban terrain provide a defensive barrier between Russian forces and the more open plains farther west. A breach could make it easier for Moscow to push deeper into eastern and central Ukraine.

Kyiv still controls about 20% of Donetsk, one of Russia’s main territorial aspirations. Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to demand control over all of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week called on U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to organize a trilateral meeting with Putin, but so far there doesn’t seem to be any diplomatic progress.

In fact, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used his speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Saturday to reiterate the country’s commitment to achieving its military aims in Ukraine.

“In 2022, we began a special military operation to protect people in Donbas and Novorossiya [New Russia], to protect them from elimination by the Kyiv regime” Lavrov told the assembly.

“Our fight for truth and justice will be seen through to the end. The objectives of our special military operation will be achieved and threats to our security will be eliminated,” the Russian diplomat continued.

Lavrov repeatedly accused Ukraine’s European allies of being “contaminated with the virus of racial superiority”, espousing “Russophobic extremist ideas” and ignoring “Ukrainian Nazism” in order to “inflict strategic defeat on Russia”.

In the meantime, Ukraine has been stepping up its attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. A recent strike on a Krasnodar facility followed similar Ukrainian strikes on two Russian oil refineries on Thursday night. The International Energy Agency reported in mid-September that, in the first eight months of 2026, a Russian refinery was struck on average once every three days. The attacks have resulted in fuel shortages in different areas under Russian control, especially in Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.