The Russian army is preparing a summer offensive: the main directions are known

Russia is preparing a summer offensive and will likely advance in the Donetsk direction with the aim of reaching the administrative borders of the region. The occupiers may also try to break through the defenses in the Zaporizhia direction, in particular at the junction of the Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

This was stated by the Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Brigadier General Pavlo Palisa.

According to him, the enemy’s main target still remains the Donetsk region.

“There are two weeks left until the beginning of summer. So, I think that, given the situation on the battlefield as of mid-May, they have not achieved the expected result. On the other hand, the Russians will be focused on reaching the administrative borders of the Donetsk region this year,” Palisa emphasized.

However, in his opinion, the enemy will also try to break through at the junction of Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

“They had a task to seize Kostyantynivka by the end of April. As you can see, the Russian army is far from this goal. They also wanted to launch an offensive on Kramatorsk-Slovyansk in late May or early June. This task also failed,” he noted.

Palisa doubts that Russia will be able to fulfill its plans within the next 3–4 months. He also does not believe that Russian troops will be able to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region in early September.

In particular, Pavlo Palisa doubts that the enemy will be able to achieve its goals by the end of the year.

Previously, “Pryamiy” reported that Russian troops are trying to advance north of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, in particular in the area of the village of Holubivka.

Viktor Tregubov noted that active attempts to advance in this direction are ongoing, although Ukrainian forces are still managing to contain them.

The Russian army has also carried out several attacks on various sections of the front in recent days , but they do not have a significant impact on the course of the spring-summer offensive of 2026.

The ISW notes that none of these assaults resulted in significant tactical successes. Most attacks did not advance beyond the contact line.