The Russian military has pierced pockets of Ukraine’s frontlines in the eastern Donetsk region this week, pushing forward just days before Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with President Trump in Alaska. 

Russian troops have made gains in a push toward Dobropillia, a city some 60 miles northwest of Donetsk city, according to DeepState, a Ukrainian group linked to the military that tracks battlefield advances through open-source data. 

In response, Ukraine’s 1st “Azov” Corps confirmed on Tuesday that it was tasked with containing the Kremlin’s advances. 

“The situation remains complex and dynamic. The enemy is attempting to advance in this direction at the cost of significant losses in manpower and equipment,” the unit said Tuesday on social media. “Units within the corps have planned and carried out actions to block enemy forces in the area.” 

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in its analysis on late Monday that Russia’s drones strikes at longer ranges are “likely forcing Ukrainian forces to take alternative roads and further stretch [ground lines of communication], which is likely impacting Ukraine’s defensive operations that rely on the consistent flow of equipment, supplies and manpower.” 

Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Black Bird Group, a Finnish group that closely tracks the Russia-Ukraine war, said Monday that Ukraine’s forces have a “crisis on their hands.”

“Ukrainians will almost certainly rush in reinforcements to the area, but from where and at what cost? Ukrainians are unlikely to have plenty of ready operational or strategic reserves, which means that the forces need to come off other sections of the frontline,” Paroinen wrote. “This in turn will open further possibilities for the Russians to exploit elsewhere. Be as it may, there is likely no other choice.” 

As the fighting has continued in eastern Ukraine, Trump, along with European leaders and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, held a joint meeting Wednesday, organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to discuss the president’s upcoming huddle with Putin in Anchorage.

In a joint press conference after the call, Zelensky said he warned Trump that Putin is “bluffing” about his openness to a peace deal.

Merz said any negotiations over territory must use the frontlines as a “starting point,” but ruled out international recognition of Russia’s occupation.

Some European officials have expressed concerns that the president could cut a bad deal with the Russian leader. 

The president said Monday the meeting was a chance to “feel out” Putin, who has not publicly backed off his maximalist demands to topple Ukraine’s government.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine might be asked to withdraw its military from Donbas — the eastern region that includes Donetsk and Luhansk — in exchange for a ceasefire, pointing to discussions with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with Putin in Moscow last week. 

Zelensky said he was not “ready to discuss Ukraine’s territories, as this is solely a matter of our Constitution.” 

Trump has chafed at Zelensky’s resistance to territorial concessions, once again blaming the Ukrainian leader for Russia’s invasion on Monday.

Russian aerial attacks continued overnight, with the Kremlin firing 49 drones and two missiles in at least three regions, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. 

“At present, there is no sign that the Russians are preparing to end the war. Our coordinated efforts and joint actions – of Ukraine, the United States, Europe, and all countries that seek peace – can definitely compel Russia to make peace. I thank everyone who is helping,” Zelensky said on Wednesday on the social media platform X.