Russian forces break into another region of Ukraine with peace efforts
stuck
[August 28, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s invading forces have broken into an eighth
region of Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said Wednesday, seeking
to capture more ground in their three-year war of attrition as U.S.-led
peace efforts struggle to gain traction.
Some Russian troops have entered the villages of Novoheorhiivka and
Zaporizke in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, a major Ukrainian
industrial center next to the Donetsk region where fierce fighting has
been taking place, Victor Trehubov, spokesman for local ground forces,
told The Associated Press by phone.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed earlier this month that its forces had
taken the two villages.
But the Russians have not entrenched or built fortifications there, and
fighting is continuing in the villages, Trehubov said.
Ukrainian troops are under severe strain as they try to hold back
Russia’s bigger army. Military analysts say there is no sign of a
looming collapse of Ukrainian defenses and note that Russian forces have
been unable to take major towns and cities, but their slow slog through
rural areas keeps Ukraine under pressure.
The front line, where tens of thousands of troops on both sides have
been killed, snakes along roughly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of
eastern and southeastern Ukraine, which borders Russia. Russian forces
are already in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia,
Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
Russia illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March
2014, and now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine.
Western leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of
dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations
while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump bristled Tuesday at Putin’s stalling on an
American proposal for direct peace talks with Ukraine President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next
steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Vladimir Saldo, the
Moscow-appointed head of the Russian-controlled Kherson region of
Ukraine, during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on
Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool
Photo via AP)
Ukraine has accepted U.S. proposals for a summit with Putin and a
ceasefire.
Russia has also balked at U.S. and Western plans to establish
postwar security guarantees for Ukraine, which fears another Russian
invasion in the future even if a peace deal is clinched now.
The possible security guarantees being worked out by Western
officials could include the deployment of European troops in
Ukraine. But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Wednesday
that soldiers from NATO member countries would be unacceptable for
Moscow.
Ukraine is trying to disrupt Russia's war effort by striking
infrastructure behind the front line with ling-range drones. Gas
stations have run dry in some regions of Russia after they struck
refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks.
Russia, meanwhile, is continuing its campaign to cripple Ukraine’s
energy supply ahead of the bitter winter by wrecking the power grid
with repeated attacks.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Wednesday that Russia struck energy
and gas infrastructure in six regions of the country.
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