Russian Military Urges Kremlin to Extend Donbas Capture Deadline to 2027

The Russian military leadership is reportedly seeking an extension from the Kremlin to capture the entire Donbas region, pushing the deadline from the end of 2026 to March 2027. Sources indicate that the military command believes achieving the objective of reaching the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions by the current target date is unrealistic.

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The Russian Federation's political leadership sets the military leadership the task of resolving the Donbas issue, i.e., reaching the administrative borders of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions by December 31 of this year. The Russian military leadership is asking to postpone the deadline for the task until March 31, 2027.

According to Pavlo Palisa, a deputy head of the Ukrainian President's Office, the Donbas issue remains a central point in political negotiations. Palisa stated that the Russian political leadership has tasked the military with securing these administrative borders by December 31, 2026. However, the military command is attempting to persuade political leaders that this timeline is unachievable.

"The military command is convincing the political [leaders] that this task will not be completed within the set time. On the contrary, they are asking for a deadline until March 31," Palisa explained. The Ukrainian President's Office, however, views even the revised deadline as unrealistic, with Palisa personally expressing skepticism about the feasibility of achieving the goal by March 31, 2027.

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The military command is convincing the political [leaders] that this task will not be completed within the set time. On the contrary, they are asking for a deadline until March 31.

This is not the first instance of Russia setting ambitious timelines for its military operations in Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has previously reported that the Kremlin has set at least 15 different deadlines for capturing the entire Donetsk region since the full-scale invasion began, none of which have been met by Russian forces. Key targets for Russia reportedly remain the cities of Konstantinovka, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk.

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My subjective opinion: even until March 31, this is an unrealistic picture.