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Jared Evan
As the international press focused on a series of high-profile diplomatic meetings, including President Trump hosting France’s Macron, the UK’s Starmer, and Ukraine’s Zelensky in rapid succession, developments on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine received comparatively little attention.
While Zelensky was preparing to confront Trump at the White House—an encounter that, according to AFP, did not go well for the Ukrainian leader—Ukrainian forces were steadily losing ground on the eastern front.
In fact, as Zelensky and Vice President Vance were engaged in discussions in the Oval Office, Kyiv’s forces were being pushed back by advancing Russian troops.
According to AFP, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that at the very moment international attention was fixated on the Trump-Zelensky meeting, Russian forces had successfully seized two additional villages along the eastern frontlines.
“Moscow on Saturday said it had seized two more villages in eastern Ukraine as Kyiv officials reported Russian strikes had killed one person and wounded 19,” AFP reported.
“The Russian defense ministry said its forces had captured Skudne and Burlatske in the south of the eastern Donetsk region,” the report continued. These villages lie just outside Velyka Novossilka, a strategic town that Russia captured at the end of January.
Zero Hedge has noted that Ukrainian forces have been steadily losing ground in Donetsk for months. Despite this, Kyiv has continued to launch strikes against Russian oil and gas facilities deep inside Russian territory—actions that, according to Zero Hedge, have failed to yield any strategic advantage in the war. Meanwhile, Russia has continued its own large-scale drone assaults on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, with at least 150 drones launched overnight. Ukrainian officials claim to have intercepted at least 100 of these inbound UAVs.
Additionally, AFP has reported that Russian military and security forces are regaining control of territory in the southern Kursk region, which had been occupied by Ukrainian forces since last August.
Russia’s Defense Ministry stated on Friday that its troops had reclaimed four villages in the Kursk region over the past week, with Novaya Sorochina being the latest to be retaken. Days earlier, the military announced the recapture of Pogrebki, Gorlovka—both near Novaya Sorochina—as well as the village of Nikolsky, located toward the Sudzha direction.
Zero Hedge has pointed out that this steady Russian advance has been well understood by the Trump White House. During the Friday meeting, Trump reportedly told Zelensky that he had “no more cards to play.”
“You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people,” Trump said, according to Zero Hedge. “You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country—this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”
