Russia has pushed back its target for capturing the remaining Ukrainian-controlled territory in the Donbas to March 31 2027, according to Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, highlighting the difficulties Moscow continues to face in its campaign to seize the eastern region.
Palisa said the new deadline was set by Russia’s military leadership as Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas as part of US-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war.
The Donbas encompasses the partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Kyiv has rejected demands to surrender territory as part of a settlement and has opposed a peace agreement that would require such concessions.
According to Palisa, Russia’s political leadership still wants the Donbas captured by the end of 2026, while military commanders are seeking an extension until March 31 2027. He made the comments on September 7 following a briefing involving US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“Russians have failed to achieve any operational success in Donetsk Oblast,” Palisa said. They have already postponed the deadlines for reaching the oblast’s administrative borders 15 times.
Ukraine continues to control between 21 and 22 per cent of Donetsk oblast, meaning slightly more than one-fifth of the region remains outside Russian control.
The competing timelines underline the gap between Moscow’s political ambitions and its military progress. Russia is seeking Ukrainian withdrawal from territory that its forces have not been able to capture through military operations.
Kyiv has privately warned the Trump administration that Russian forces may struggle to seize the remaining Ukrainian-controlled areas of Donetsk even by 2027, according to a document previously reported by the Kyiv Independent.
Russian territorial gains have slowed to less than 100 sq km a month, according to the document. At that rate, it said, Moscow’s objectives in Donetsk could be pushed “potentially” beyond 2027.
That’s pretty damning and to the point by the ISW. https://t.co/ZLd1qI134w
— Shaun Pinner (@ShaunPinnerUA) September 7, 2026
The latest revision would represent another delay to Russia’s timetable for capturing the region. Moscow had previously targeted the end of 2025 for the seizure of Donetsk oblast and the wider Donbas and had reportedly communicated those ambitions to Trump.
Despite sustained Russian offensives, Moscow’s forces have failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough in Donetsk.
The Kremlin has repeatedly set deadlines for completing the conquest of the region. Vladimir Putin previously ordered Russian forces to capture the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts by March 2023.
The repeated postponements underscore the difficulty Russia faces in converting its military pressure into the territorial gains required to meet its stated objectives, while the Donbas remains one of the central disputes in negotiations over a potential ceasefire or broader peace agreement.
Leave a Comment