Russia Gains Another Village In Central Ukraine Oblast As Negotiations Effectively Dead

On Saturday Russia’s military announced it has captured another village in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, which neighbors Donetsk, and signifies that Moscow is taking the fight beyond the Donbass – at least slowly.

The village of Novomykolaivka has been taken, the military says, after Russian troops have been operating in Dnipropetrovsk since early July. However, the Ukrainian military-linked mapping platform DeepState has contradicted these claims, saying the village still remains under Ukraine’s control.

Russian forces are widely estimated to already control some 20% of total Ukraine territory, and maintain clear advantage in terms of manpower, equipment, and artillery ammo.

Ukrainian forces have endured incremental losses, and yet President Zelensky is still refusing to even contemplate territorial compromise for the sake of achieving peace.

While Trump has said his patience is running out, both warring sides have in recent days acknowledged that the negotiations process is effectively dead:

Speaking at a conference in Kyiv, Zelensky told the West not to trust Putin and said his maximalist ambitions had not changed.

“Putin’s goal is to occupy all of Ukraine. And no matter what he tells anyone, it is clear that he has set the war machine in motion to such an extent that he simply cannot stop it unless he is forced to fundamentally change his personal goals,” Zelensky said.

The Kremlin for its part has described a “pause” in negotiation efforts, after the delegations met twice this year as part of Trump-mediated efforts.

Moscow has further blamed Kiev’s European backers for essentially seeking to sabotage peace efforts. They are encouraging Zelensky to stick to Ukraine’s own maximalist demands, while promising a seemingly endless supply of military hardware and funds to keep fighting.

Kiev sees Russian forces’ push into Dnipropetrovsk as evidence that Putin intends to keep going, deeper into Ukraine, and possibly eventually threatening other major cities not previously under attack.

Yet, there’s no evidence that Putin desires to conquer all of Ukraine, and the Kremlin would likely balk at the nightmarish prospect of trying to keep such a massive expanse of territory under permanent occupation.