Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called the Russian military offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which borders Donetsk, a "new reality".
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev - Photo: TASS
On June 8, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president, former prime minister and current deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, warned that Ukraine's leadership would face "new realities" on the battlefield if it continued to refuse to acknowledge the "realities of war" at the negotiating table.
He made this warning when commenting on the advance of Russian troops in the Dnipropetrovsk region of central Ukraine.
"Those who do not want to recognize the realities of war in the negotiations will have to face new realities on the ground. The Russian Armed Forces have launched an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the top Russian security official wrote on Telegram, according to the Tass news agency.
According to CNN, earlier on the same day, Russia announced that its forces were entering the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine for the first time - an area that Russian troops have been trying to reach for months. This development could create new challenges for the Ukrainian military.
The Russian Defense Ministry said units of the country's army's 90th Tank Division had reached the border between the Donetsk region, which is largely under Russian control, and the Dnipropetrovsk region. After that, these units continued to advance into Dnipropetrovsk.
However, it is still unclear the scale of Moscow's offensive as well as Moscow's true ambitions in Dnipropetrovsk.
CNN said it could not independently verify reports from the battlefield, while the Ukrainian side has not confirmed that Russian troops have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Ukrainian tanks move past buildings damaged by shelling in a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region on March 16 - Photo: AFP
If confirmed, Russia's advance in Dnipropetrovsk will put more pressure on the Ukrainian military as peace talks have not yet brought the war to an end.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have also made strides in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine, as well as near the city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.
The Russian offensive will also put more pressure on Ukraine's control of the city of Pokrovsk (Donetsk region) - a key center that has been attacked by Russia for months.
On the morning of June 8, Ukraine said its forces had stopped dozens of Russian attacks in the direction of Pokrovsk.
