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Ukraine's military command has sacked the commander who oversaw its operations in the eastern Donetsk region, as Kiev's defenses crumble as Russia advances towards a key logistics hub.
A Ukrainian official confirmed to the Financial Times on Friday that Oleksandr Lutsenko had been removed from his position as commander of the Donetsk Operational and Tactical Group.
Ukrainian forces, under the command of Lutsenko, failed to stop the sweeping Russian attack that took control of an area approximately half the size of London just last month. The official said Lutsenko will get another position in the Army's Ground Forces. He was replaced by Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavsky.
Earlier on Friday, Oleksandr Sirsky, Ukraine's top general, said from a command center near the city of Pokrovsk – the heart of the eastern Donetsk operation and a major logistical hub for the army – that the battles were being fought against a “superior” Russian army. . . Primarily in the workforce.”
“The battles are very difficult,” Siersky said. “The Russians are pushing forward all available forces and are trying to break through the defenses of our forces.”
Deep State, a Ukrainian group that tracks the war and is close to the Defense Ministry, said Ukrainian forces defending four villages south of Pokrovsk were at risk of being surrounded, with Russian forces attacking “from all sides.”
Metinvest, Ukraine's largest steelmaker, also announced the suspension of operations at the country's only coke-producing mine after Russian forces intruded within two kilometers of the site near Pokrovsk, according to a company memo.
The mine has produced about half of Metinvest's total Ukrainian coal mining volume and is a source of the type of coal needed to produce coke, which is essential for steel manufacturing. Metinvest said it had evacuated essential employees and their family members from the site.
Russian forces have recently been advancing at their fastest pace since 2022 and their current focus is Pokrovsk, as well as key cities such as Kurakhov and Velika Novoselka in the south. The area is located near three major highways extending to the Dnipropetrovsk region and the city of Dnipro, and is a vital area for Ukrainian army operations across much of the 1,000-kilometre front line.
Highlighting the dire situation facing the Ukrainian army on the Eastern Front, Sersky warned that it would soon have to resort to making “non-standard decisions to increase the stability of the defense and destroy the occupiers more effectively.”
He did not explain the details of these procedures. But Sirsky, who engineered Kiev's controversial incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August and a successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv in 2022, is known for taking risks to try to disrupt his enemy's plans and shift momentum on the battlefield.
The biggest challenge facing Ukraine is the workforce, according to analysts. Its experienced soldiers are being killed or injured, while… Packing effort It faltered greatly. The average age of a Ukrainian soldier is about 45 years old, and many new recruits are in poor physical condition.
Russian forces significantly outnumber Ukrainian forces, despite suffering heavy losses on the front line. Commanders in the Donetsk region told the Financial Times that their soldiers were sometimes outnumbered by 1/8.
The United States urged Zelensky to lower the military conscription age from 25 to 18 to address the manpower shortage that weakened her position on the battlefield and contributed to Russia's sweeping gains. But he strongly objected to this advice and sought to blame delays in Western arms supplies.
“Don't be speculative, our state is not preparing to lower the filling age,” Zelensky told parliament last month.
Additional reporting by Henri Foy in Brussels
