On Monday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine's forces had retaken more than 2,300 square miles of occupied territory from Russia.
This photograph taken on August 26 shows burnt Russian tanks in an improvised dump in Mariupol amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. In a Tuesday Facebook post, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed the Russian military's current shortage of tactical commanders is due to the refusal of reserve officers to sign contracts to fight amid the Ukrainian military's reported battlefield success.
Meanwhile, Russian state media reported over the weekend that Russian troops previously stationed in Balakleya and Izium—which Ukrainian forces liberated over the weekend, per Zelensky—have since regrouped and been redeployed in the direction of Donetsk, where Russian forces are now concentrating significant manpower in an attempt to hold the region.
Zelensky had previously rejected proposals by the Russian government to broker a peace deal amid the counteroffensive, saying over the weekend that Russian leadership had failed to offer a tenable proposal. Retired U.S. General Mark Hertling said Tuesday that while Ukrainian gains were significant, he still had
with the country's pace in the region, saying there were"some elements of Ukraine's force that can't 'keep up' with the front line fighters."