"The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are not currently capable of achieving an operational-level breakthrough on any section of the front and Ukrainian units have successfully withstood the offensive pressure," Col. Ants Kiviselg said Friday at the Estonian Ministry of Defense's weekly briefing.

According to him, Russia has continued offensive operations along all established axes and at previous levels of intensity, with the average number of daily attacks remaining similar to the previous week — holding steady at about 160 attacks per day.

Russia's most active assaults remain centered in Donetsk Oblast, particularly around the city of Pokrovsk and in the direction of Novopavlivka, where about half of all daily attacks are concentrated, Kiviselg noted.

Despite the high volume of attacks, Russian forces have made little progress in that area and Ukrainian troops have managed to resist effectively, he emphasized.

Russian pressure has also persisted in the direction of the settlement of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast, supported by offensives toward Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, the colonel said.

"Over the past week, Russian forces have made limited advances in the area between Pokrovsk and Toretsk, where they control a stretch of road between the two settlements spanning roughly a few dozen kilometers. Although the amount of territory captured is not large, they have seized a critical section of that highway. So movement of units along that road is now somewhat disrupted," said the head of the Defense Forces' Intelligence Center.

However, the capture of Pokrovsk or Kostiantynivka in the near future remains unlikely, as Ukrainian forces hold very strong defensive positions in the area and are prepared to continue repelling Russian attacks, Kiviselg stressed.

The intelligence chief also cited an analysis from the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which indicates that the territory under Russian control has been in steady decline since November of last year, and this trend is expected to continue.

Commenting on Russia's May 18 launch of the largest long-range drone attack to date on Ukraine — involving 273 Shahed-type combat and decoy drones, nearly three times the usual number — Kiviselg noted that Ukrainian defenses remain relatively effective at intercepting these drones.

"In summary, the situation on the front lines has remained largely unchanged over the past few months, since the beginning of the year. The Russian Federation continues its offensive with the goal of fully seizing Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. [But] we see that their advances are very minor. The Russian Federation continues to suffer heavy losses in manpower and Ukraine's defense has largely held," Kiviselg concluded.

He also emphasized that there is no indication Russia is preparing for peace talks or even a temporary halt in hostilities on Ukrainian territory.

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