The war in Ukraine entered a grim new phase this week as Russian forces overran three more settlements in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, tightening their grip on key areas despite billions in Western aid and years of U.S. involvement. General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top military commander, confirmed on Telegram that “dense fog enabled Russian troops to infiltrate Ukrainian positions” and that Ukrainian forces are engaged in “grueling battles” to push them back.
While the fighting in Zaporizhzhia has intensified, Syrskyi noted that the most brutal clashes continue in the eastern city of Pokrovsk, where nearly half of all front-line combat has occurred over the last day. Moscow’s offensive has also spread to Kupiansk and Lyman in the Kharkiv region, showing that Russia’s momentum is broadening even as Western support for Kyiv begins to waver.
Nearly four years into the full-scale invasion, Russia now occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. Despite repeated claims that sanctions would cripple the Kremlin’s war machine, new U.S. restrictions targeting Russia’s oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil—set to take effect November 21—appear unlikely to change the battlefield reality. The Biden administration insists these measures will pressure Vladimir Putin toward peace talks, yet his army continues advancing while Washington’s strategy looks increasingly reactive.
Kyiv, meanwhile, faces growing turmoil at home. Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko was suspended this week amid a corruption investigation, a troubling development that underscores long-standing concerns about mismanagement in Ukraine’s government. For American taxpayers who have already funded tens of billions in aid, these scandals raise serious questions about oversight, accountability, and whether continued blank checks to Kyiv serve U.S. interests.
Russia’s military has ramped up attacks across multiple fronts, leveraging its size and equipment advantages while Ukraine struggles to replenish manpower and munitions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said roughly 170,000 Russian troops are now concentrated in the Donetsk region alone. The front line stretches nearly 1,250 kilometers—an exhausting length for a force already running thin. Over the past month, Russia’s Defense Ministry has claimed the capture of more than two dozen settlements across four regions.
Still, the cost of Russia’s slow-moving advance remains steep. Western analysts describe Moscow’s campaign as a grinding war of attrition—costly in manpower and armor but strategically persistent. The Institute for the Study of War noted that elite Russian drone units and special forces have been deployed in Pokrovsk, but progress has been “slow-moving” due to logistical strain.
Ukraine continues to strike back with long-range drone attacks targeting high-value sites inside Russia. Its latest operation reportedly hit the Stavrolen chemical plant in Budionnovsk, a facility producing polymers for military use.
But even as Kyiv shows resilience, its allies’ patience is wearing thin. With a weakened economy, mounting internal scandals, and a war that shows no sign of ending, Ukraine’s predicament highlights the limits of Western policy. What was once portrayed as a fight for democracy has become a drawn-out test of endurance—with American taxpayers footing much of the bill, and Washington still lacking a clear endgame.
