On Saturday, Russia announced that its forces had taken control of the village of Berezivka, marking a significant gain in the ongoing battle in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, where Ukrainian defenses are beginning to weaken. Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to the news.
The Russian military, which is much larger, has been engaged in a prolonged campaign along the eastern front for over a year, steadily loosening Ukraine’s grip on key positions. With the war approaching its fourth year, Ukrainian forces, already stretched thin and exhausted, are struggling to hold their ground.
While Berezivka is a small settlement, its capture is part of Russia’s broader strategy to push through the Donetsk region. Despite significant losses in troops and resources, the offensive has been beneficial for the Kremlin. Russian forces use powerful tactics, including 3,000-pound glide bombs, artillery, missiles, and drones to devastate settlements. Once the defenses are weakened, infantry units are sent in to engage the remaining defenders.
Russia aims to seize full control of both Donetsk and Luhansk, which together form Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region.
Kyiv’s recent setbacks in eastern Ukraine come amid growing uncertainty about the continued flow of crucial military aid from the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has emphasized prioritizing American interests, recently suggested he might meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to discuss a potential peace agreement over Ukraine.
During his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Europe could face a situation where the U.S. may decline to support Europe on critical issues. He emphasized that the time has come for the establishment of an “armed forces of Europe.”
In other news, radiation levels at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, remained stable on Saturday. This followed an incident the previous day in which a drone carrying a warhead struck the plant’s outer protective shell in the Kyiv region. Ukraine’s State Agency for Exclusion Zone Management confirmed that radiation levels had not risen.
The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Friday that a recent strike on the Chernobyl nuclear plant, which created a hole in the structure and briefly sparked a fire, did not compromise the plant’s inner containment shell.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight between Friday and Saturday across four regions in western and southwestern Russia, with no casualties. On the other hand, Ukrainian officials stated that Russia had launched 70 drones into Ukraine during the same period. According to Ukraine’s air force, 33 of the drones were destroyed, and 37 others were likely lost due to electronic jamming.
