Russian troops have advanced in numerous areas across Ukraine and newly released maps show the scale of the inroads.
An open source intelligence project called OSINT for Ukraine has published a map revealing Putin’s forces moving in towards 10 villages, with two in Kharkiv Oblast in the north-east of the country, and the rest in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Despite ammunition shortages and Russian troop outnumbering Ukrainians, on Sunday President Zelensky’s General Staff of the Armed Forces dubbed the situation “tense, but under control”.
Its live map revealed Russian advances towards Robotyne and Verbove in the Zaporizhzhia region besides six villages in the eastern Donetsk region.
This comes as Ukraine keenly awaits the arrival of supplies from the West. After much wrangling from Republicans, a $61bn US aid package was passed by Congress and it is hoped that the much-needed bolstering of resources will be pivotal.
The long wait in Kyiv for western aid has meant Ukrainian troops have been forced to conserve their battlefield resources, like artillery.
The second major hope Ukrainian decision-makers will be holding on to is that a new mobilisation law has now come into force.
From May 18, Ukrainian lawmakers will need the new law to replenish soldier numbers on the frontline and ward off further Russian advances.
Despite the imminent arrival of aid and the new mobilisation legislation, the situation is still critical for Ukraine. This year alone, Russia has taken around 800 square kilometers of territory compared with just 600 square kilometers gained in all of last year.
Leon Hartwell, senior associate at the London School of Economics think tank LSE IDEAS, told Newsweek: “The stark military discrepancies between Ukraine and Russia are glaring.
“Traditionally, a three-to-one superiority is deemed necessary for successful offensive maneuvers, a threshold Ukraine currently lacks.”
Hartwell added: “Since last year, Ukraine has been outmatched by Russia by a factor of five-to-one in terms of artillery and seven-to-one in terms of drones.
“The present circumstances may even be more unfavorable. Consequently, Ukraine finds itself predominantly on the defensive, but with weakened defensive capabilities.”