Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s forces have stepped up its assault operations against Ukraine in a month in which U.S.-brokered ceasefire talks have raised the prospect of peace.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.
Why it matters
Negotiations in Saudi Arabia in March were intended to shift the dial in the war which has raged for three years. Ukraine and the U.S. agreed to a temporary ceasefire which was rejected by Putin, while last week there was a Black Sea proposed to which Moscow has attached numerous conditions.
Russia increasing battlefield attacks at the same time as talks could be seen as a sign that Putin has no intention of easing up on the battlefield, even when diplomacy is taking place.
What To Know
On Thursday, Ukrainian open-source outlet DeepState posted on social media that between March 1 and March 26, Russian troops had carried out 17 percent more assault attacks than in the whole of February.
It also found that between March 25 and 27, it carried out 200 assaults per day, the highest level for a three-day period in 2025.
It comes as Ukrainian forces reported marginal gains in Russia’s Belgorod region, while Russian troops have made their own advances in Kursk and Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Saudi Arabia hosted talks with Ukrainian and American officials on March 11, and the kingdom held separate talks starting March 23 among delegations from Russia and Ukraine, brokered by the U.S.
Putin and President Donald Trump had a phone conversation on March 18.
DeepState also said on March 28 that Russia had conducted 200 assaults per day over the previous three days.
This was the highest rate for such a period so far this year, the outlet said, describing them as so-called “meat assaults,” where infantry-led attacks try to overwhelm the opposite side with little regard to the death toll.
It comes as Ukrainian forces spokesman Vladislav Voloshin said Moscow’s troops had also intensified assaults in small groups in the Zaporizhzhia direction in an offensive that started in early March and has seen Russian breakthroughs.
What people are saying
DeepState on Telegram: “Tension is growing significantly in many areas of the front, where [Russian] units have become more active and have increased their activity in March. In less than 26 days of this month, there were 17 percent more attacks than in 28 days in February.”
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on March 29: “Ukrainian forces recently advanced in Belgorod Oblast. Russian forces recently advanced in Kursk Oblast, near Toretsk and Kurakhove, and in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
What Happens Next
Putin is likely to continue with a battlefield push which the ISW said coincides with his efforts to portray the Ukrainian government as unable to engage in negotiations to end the war.
He has done this by repeating claims on Friday in Murmansk that Kyiv is controlled by Nazis and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not a legitimate leader because of wartime martial law which has precluded presidential elections.
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