Criticism of Zelenskyy mounts after Russian advance in eastern Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has faced a barrage of criticism from soldiers, lawmakers and military analysts over the Russian army’s rapid advances in eastern Ukraine after Kiev launched its bold incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

Many Ukrainians celebrated their army’s August 6 assault on Kursk, hoping that the move would force Moscow to divert resources to the new front, shifting the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor.

However, a breach in the front line in the strategically important Donetsk region this week has triggered a backlash against the leadership in Kiev. Critics argue that Ukraine’s position has been weakened by the redeployment of thousands of experienced Ukrainian troops for the Kursk operation.

Russian forces are closing in on the strategically vital city of Pokrovsk, capturing several nearby towns this week and forcing under-resourced Ukrainian units to retreat from prepared defensive positions.

Pokrovsk is one of two major rail and road junctions in the Donetsk region, and its loss could threaten the entire military logistics of the region, according to Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian analytical group.

Satellite imagery analyzed by open-source researchers at the Finland-based Black Bird Group shows that Russian forces are now just 8km from Pokrovsk. In response, local authorities have ordered residents of the area to evacuate.

Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst with the Kiev-based Information Resistance group, called the situation on the eastern edge of Pokrovsk “a complete defensive failure.”

“It is not the fault of the soldiers who occupy the positions,” he wrote on Telegram. “The problem lies with those who make the decisions for these soldiers,” he added, pointing to Ukraine’s leadership.

Several soldiers in the area expressed concerns about the defenses around Pokrovsk.

Zhenya, a Ukrainian soldier with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade who fought in the grueling 10-month battle for Bakhmut last year, described a rapidly deteriorating situation in Pokrovsk. In a frank assessment in X, he criticized the military command structure, citing systemic failures and inadequate responses to evolving conditions on the battlefield.

“I have honestly never seen anything like this. Everything is falling apart so fast,” he warned. “Pokrovsk will fall much faster than Bakhmut did.”

Ukrainian troops this week withdrew from Novohrodivka, 8 km (5 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk. The Centre for Defence Strategies (CDS), a Kiev-based security think tank, said the withdrawal indicated a shortage of defensive assets despite Pokrovsk’s importance as a logistics hub.

Mariana Bezuhla, a member of parliament’s defense committee and a member of the parliament, shared photos on Facebook from a visit last week to the front line near Novohrodivka. She claimed the images showed the road to Pokrovsk completely open.

“The trenches in front of Novohrodivka were empty. There was virtually no Ukrainian army in the city that once housed 20,000 people,” she wrote in a scathing post.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s top military commander, said in a statement Thursday that he had visited the Pokrovsk area and was working “to strengthen the defense of our troops in the most difficult areas of the front by providing the brigades with a sufficient amount of ammunition and other material and technical resources.”

During a press conference in Kiev on Tuesday, Zelenskyy described the situation on the frontline near Pokrovsk as “extremely difficult,” but said the Russian advance in the area had slowed following Ukraine’s Kursk offensive.

Indeed, Russian forces have advanced more rapidly in Donetsk since August 6 compared to previous months, according to several military analysts, including Deep State, a Ukrainian group with close ties to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry that monitors movements on the front line.

“There is complete chaos,” said Deep State’s Roman Pohorilyi, pointing to the fall of key cities like Novohrodivka and the looming threat to Pokrovsk.

Over the past three weeks, Moscow’s forces have swiftly captured more than two dozen cities and towns with minimal resistance, including the former stronghold of Niu-York. Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, attributed the Russian advances to a shortage of experienced Ukrainian infantry and a diversion of resources to the Kursk offensive.

“Ukraine has committed its reserves to Kursk, leaving fewer options to cover gaps in other areas. Some of the more experienced brigades have been replaced by newer, less trained units,” Lee explained.

Soldiers who were mobilized this summer under the Ukrainian government’s new conscription laws, designed to fill Kiev’s dwindling ranks, were sent into battle with little training or experience. “They freeze … they don’t know what to do in real combat,” said a lieutenant whose troops are on the front lines near Pokrovsk. Many “turn and run at the first explosion.”

Soldiers in artillery units near Pokrovsk also noted a shortage of shells and a large disparity in firepower compared to Russian forces. “Our shells are running out. We simply don’t have enough,” an artillery commander said, noting that many resources had been redirected north to Kursk. Last month, his unit had one shell for every six to eight fired by the Russians.

Meanwhile, Russian forces maintain a significant tactical advantage, bolstered by superior aviation, drone and artillery capabilities, according to the CDS think tank. Stanislav Aseyev, a Ukrainian journalist and soldier currently on the Eastern Front, warned of the possible “destruction of the entire southern group of forces in the region, not just Pokrovsk.” He cited “a range of internal reasons: from planting flowers instead of fortifications to the high command’s lack of understanding of the problems that are obvious to every soldier in the trenches.”

“What can be done for Pokrovsk?” he asked rhetorically. “Unfortunately, the only option is to evacuate as many people as possible. I think the city will soon cease to exist.”

Frontelligence suggested that the Ukrainian leadership could still reinforce the frontline by deploying new brigades or redeploying forces from other areas. However, if Pokrovsk falls, it could pave the way for Russian forces to advance towards Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, further extending their control.

With information from the Financial Times