This is Putin's last chance! The Russian army is preparing to seize the entire Donetsk region

Russia is preparing a large-scale summer offensive in the Donetsk region. Warnings of an offensive are becoming more frequent, as the US-brokered peace process has reached a dead end. And meetings between representatives of Ukraine and the Russian Federation have not led to any concrete results, writes The Washington Post.

According to the publication, Moscow's main goal is to capture Pokrovsk and Kostantinovka. The latter is not yet close to the front line, but it is convenient to attack from three directions.

At the same time, WP reports that diversionary strikes are being planned in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions to stretch the Ukrainian defense. Russia has deployed 125,000 troops to the borders of Sumy and Kharkiv regions - not enough to capture the regional centers, but enough to put pressure on the borders.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia's goal is to create buffer zones along the border to prevent attacks on Russian territory.

At the same time, the publication notes that Ukraine has "neither the people nor the equipment to conduct its own offensive" and therefore "will continue the defensive strategy it has been using since 2024 - holding the front line and making it as difficult as possible for Moscow's forces to seize any territory".

American analysts say that Russian President Vladimir Putin seems confident that he can still win the war militarily, even though sanctions and heavy losses are slowly undermining the Russian military machine. And the summer of 2025 could be the Russian president's last chance for a major offensive.

Control of the Donetsk region as a whole has been a priority for Putin since he failed to capture Kiev at the start of the war in 2022. In September of that year, Putin declared all of Donetsk, along with three other Ukrainian regions, part of the Russian Federation - although he has not fully conquered any of them.

The analysis that Russia is seeking more territory is based on Moscow insisting it is interested in discussing peace, but indicating that an end to the fighting can only come by eliminating the "root causes" of the conflict.