Archiv: Fortress Belt (Ukraine)


28.11.2025 - 18:27 [ Atlantic Council ]

Putin wants to capture Ukraine’s crucial fortress belt without a fight

(August 28, 2025)

As US-led efforts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine struggle to gain momentum, Vladimir Putin’s latest territorial demands include the surrender of strategically vital and heavily fortified Ukrainian land in the east of the country. Moscow is calling on Kyiv to unilaterally withdraw from the approximately one-third of Donetsk province that remains in Ukrainian hands as part of any peace deal. In other words, Putin aims to secure territory at the negotiating table that his army has been unable to conquer in more that three and a half years of full-scale war.

28.11.2025 - 00:39 [ Kyiv Independent ]

Russia‘s coy game: Why Kremlin won‘t commit to Trump‘s peace push

There are signs that the Kremlin is not interested in a U.S.-brokered peace deal at all, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials reiterating maximalist demands and refusing to accept any compromise.

Instead of seeking peace, the Kremlin is trying to buy time and undermine Ukraine’s allies, analysts say. Another goal is to shift the blame to Kyiv by accusing it of rejecting Russian conditions that are effectively tantamount to capitulation.

28.11.2025 - 00:31 [ Euromaidanpress.com ]

Putin in his last address: Russia ready to fight until the last Ukrainian, offers no concessions, demands Kyiv surrender Donbas

Putin reiterated that the war in Ukraine will end only when Ukraine withdraws its forces from Donbas.

“If Ukrainian troops leave the territories they occupy, the fighting will stop. If they don’t, we will achieve this through military means,” he said.

He offered no concessions from Russia’s side.

27.11.2025 - 23:59 [ Tagesschau.de ]

Putin bleibt bei seinen Bedingungen – und droht

„Wenn die ukrainischen Truppen die von ihnen gehaltenen Gebiete verlassen, werden wir die Kampfeinsätze beenden“, sagte Putin bei einem Besuch in Bischkek, der Hauptstadt Kirgistans. „Wenn sie dies nicht tun, werden wir dies mit militärischen Mitteln erreichen“, so der Kremlchef.

Aus welchen Regionen genau sich die ukrainischen Truppen zurückziehen sollten, sagte Putin nicht. Russland hatte immer wieder gefordert, dass die Ukraine die vier Regionen Donezk, Luhansk, Cherson und Saporischschja vollständig an Russland abgeben müsse – auch die Teile, die Russland nie erobert hat.

25.11.2025 - 18:24 [ UnderstandingWar.org ]

The Critical Importance of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt in Donetsk Oblast

(August 12, 2025)

– The fortress belt is made up of four large cities and several towns and settlements that run north to south along the H-20 Kostyantynivka-Slovyansk highway, with a total pre-war population of over 380,537 people. The belt is 50 kilometers long (roughly 31 miles, about the distance between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland).
– Ukraine has spent the last 11 years pouring time, money, and effort into reinforcing the fortress belt and establishing significant defense industrial and defensive infrastructure in and around these cities.
– Slovyansk and Kramatorsk form the northern half of the fortress belt and serve as significant logistics hubs for Ukrainian forces defending in Donetsk Oblast. Druzhkivka, Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka serve as the southern half of the fortress belt.
– Ukrainian forces first began building up defensive positions in and around these cities after retaking them from pro-Russian proxy forces who attacked and seized Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostyantynivka in April 2014.
– Russia’s failure to seize Slovyansk in 2022 and ongoing struggles to envelop the fortress belt underscore the success of Ukraine’s long-term efforts to reinforce the fortress belt cities.