Ukraine has acknowledged that Russian forces have entered the key industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk, marking the first large-scale assault on the area since the war began. The Ukrainian DeepState mapping project reported on Tuesday that Russian troops had occupied two villages just inside the regional border, Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka. However, Ukraine’s general staff disputed the claim, insisting its forces still control Zaporizke and are engaged in “active hostilities” near Novohryhorivka.
“This is the first attack of such a large scale in Dnipropetrovsk region,” said Viktor Trehubov of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group, while stressing that Russian advances had been halted.
Moscow has previously claimed progress in the area as it pushes from Donetsk, where its forces have made limited but costly gains. Earlier this month, Russian troops briefly advanced 10km beyond Ukrainian lines near Dobropillia, though that push has since stalled.
Dnipropetrovsk, with a pre-war population of over three million, is Ukraine’s second-largest hub of heavy industry after the Donbas. Any sustained Russian incursion there would deal a blow to Ukrainian morale.
The breach comes as diplomatic efforts led by the United States falter. Former President Donald Trump, who recently met Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, had been working toward a possible summit. Yet hopes of progress faded last week after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the idea, saying the agenda was “not ready at all.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that any settlement involving ceding territory to Russia would be “a trap,” stressing that Moscow has made “not one single concession.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz echoed the sentiment, urging Putin to accept Zelensky’s willingness to negotiate if he is serious about ending the war.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced an easing of its wartime travel restrictions. Men aged 18 to 22 are now permitted to travel abroad, a move Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said was aimed at maintaining strong ties between young Ukrainians and their homeland.
With an estimated 5.6 million Ukrainian men living abroad, Kyiv hopes the change will ease social strain while the country braces for further fighting in its eastern heartland.
