Russia wants to occupy Donbas in spring, tasks "postponed a million times," Palisa says
Pavlo Palisa (Photo: Office of the President)

Russians want to occupy Ukrainian Donbas in the spring of 2026, said Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of the presidential Office. This was stated by colonel at the LB.ua media event.

According to him, the occupiers' task is to reach the administrative boundaries of Donbas by the end of March, or the beginning of April. He pointed out that such tasks of the Russian Federation have been unchanged throughout 2025.

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However, they have been "postponed a million times," Palisa said, adding that he sees no way for Russia to implement this in a timely manner.

The official also noted that Moscow is seeking to create buffer zones in the Kharkiv, Sumy, and Dnipro regions.

"In the future, Odesa and Mykolaiv were considered at the strategic level. But objectively, assessing their own capabilities, the top Russian generals are not looking in that direction yet," the deputy head of the OP noted.

According to Palisa, Donbas is still a priority for the occupiers, but he also mentioned Russia's plans to provide conditions for operational success in the Zaporizhzhia direction.

The official noted that Moscow is trying to quickly achieve success at the strategic level, but as part of stabilizing the front, it is seeking to achieve it at the operational level.

"So far, only Ukrainians have been able to realize operational success," Palisa said.

He pointed out that the Russian occupation of a part of the Zaporizhzhia region at the beginning of the full-scale invasion could probably be called a success, but added: "Let's put it down to the effect of surprise."

The deputy head of the OP also hopes that in 2026 the front will change for the better for Ukraine.

  • In the summer of 2025, Palisa said that last year Russia wanted to fully occupy the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and create a "buffer zone" along the northern border, and the following year it wanted to seize all of Ukraine east of the Dnipro River and cut off the state from the Black Sea.
  • On January 28, secretary Rubio said that the only unresolved aspect of the peace talks was the issue of territories, including the Donetsk region.