Russia makes gains in southern Ukraine as it expands front-line attacks
[November 13, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian army overran three settlements in the
southern Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, Kyiv’s top military commander
said Wednesday, as Moscow’s forces expand their efforts to capture more
Ukrainian territory.
Dense fog enabled Russian troops to infiltrate Ukrainian positions in
Zaporizhzhia, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the messaging app
Telegram, adding that Ukrainian units are locked in “grueling battles”
to repel the Russian thrust.
He noted, however, that the fiercest battles are still in the besieged
Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donetsk region, where close
to half of all front-line clashes took place over the previous 24 hours.
The cities of Kupiansk and Lyman in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv
region have also recently witnessed an uptick in combat.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor almost four
years ago and now occupies roughly one fifth of Ukrainian land. New U.S.
sanctions that take aim at Russia’s oil sector, which is the mainstay of
the Russian economy, are due to come into force on Nov. 21. Their
purpose is to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a
ceasefire.
Kyiv officials, meanwhile, risk being distracted by a growing corruption
scandal engulfing senior members of the government. Ukraine’s Justice
Minister Herman Halushchenko was suspended from his post Wednesday after
being placed under investigation, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko
announced.
Russian gains come at a cost
The U.S. sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil,
raise the stakes for Putin. The Russian leader has so far avoided
serious top-level peace negotiations, with Ukrainian and Western
officials accusing him of stalling for time while his army tries to grab
more Ukrainian territory. International peace efforts have come to
nothing.
Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army has scaled up its attacks,
placing the short-handed Ukrainian military under severe strain.
Ukrainian officials said in September that the front line has grown in
length to nearly 1,250 kilometers (800 miles). Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that Russia had deployed
around 170,000 troops in Donetsk.
[to top of second column]
|
Rescue workers put out a fire of a building damaged by a Russian
strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrii
Marienko)
Over the past four weeks, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported
capturing nine settlements and villages in Donetsk: eight in the
Zaporizhzhia region, seven in the Dnipropetrovsk region and five in
the Kharkiv region.
Russia’s corrosive war of attrition has been costly in terms of
casualties and armor, however, and Ukraine has held it to
incremental battlefield gains.
The Institute for the Study of War said Russia’s siege of Pokrovsk,
where it has deployed elite drone operators and “spetsnaz” special
forces soldiers, has been slow-moving because its military
commanders are spreading their resources widely.
Russia is pursuing several offensive operations across the theater
simultaneously and is having difficulty extending logistical
operations, the Washington-based think tank said late Tuesday.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has launched sustained long-range drone attacks
on high-value military-related assets inside Russia.
Its latest assault hit the Stavrolen chemical plant in Budionnovsk,
in the Stavropol region of Russia, overnight, according to the
general staff. The plant produces polymers for composite materials
used by the Russian military, it said.
___
Associated Press writer Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia,
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
