ISW assesses Putin's new deadline: At current pace, Russian forces would not capture Donetsk region until 2032

INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces to capture the entire Donbas by the end of 2026, but his "battlefield fiction" remains divorced from the reality of Ukraine's defensive capabilities. At the current pace of advance, Russian forces would not be able to capture the remaining part of the Donetsk region until the fall of 2032.