High-ranking Russian officials continue to state territorial claims to Ukraine that far exceed the official demand for Kiev to withdraw from the Donetsk region. This is stated in a new analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), quoted by News.bg.
On April 27, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, told the Kremlin's TASS agency that Russia should create a “buffer zone“ and in the Dnipropetrovsk region to ensure the security of the occupied Velika Novosilka district in Donetsk region.
According to him, Moscow must also take full control of the remaining unoccupied part of Zaporizhia region.
According to ISW, such statements confirm the long-standing assessment that the Kremlin is pursuing significantly broader territorial goals than it publicly acknowledges in the framework of the peace talks.
Thus, Pushilin's words contradict Moscow's attempts to present Ukraine's refusal to hand over the unoccupied part of Donetsk region as the only controversial issue.
In parallel, analysts note that the Russian Ministry of Defense is trying to downplay concerns about the campaign to recruit students to the army, which started in late 2025 and early 2026.
The reason is that the overall indicators of replenishment of personnel are under pressure due to the increasing losses on the front, and many Russian students fear that they will be transferred from drone units directly to high-mortality assault units.
According to available information, the Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov has ordered the country's leading universities to ensure that at least 2% of students sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense.
Russian military bloggers also criticized the ineffectiveness of this campaign in late March, as distrust among young candidates is growing.
Against this background, neither Russian nor Ukrainian forces have reported any confirmed significant changes on the front line.
Last night, the Russian army also launched 94 drones against Ukrainian territory.