Valeriu Gerasimov's visit to the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine. Photo: AFP / AFP / Profimedia
Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov visited his troops in Ukraine and said Kremlin forces captured 12 villages in the east of the country in February, Moscow's Defense Ministry said on Sunday, according to AFP.
Valery Gerasimov's visit came days before talks between Moscow, Kiev and Washington in Geneva to end a nearly four-year war and near the fourth anniversary of Moscow's major offensive against Ukraine.
“In two weeks in February, despite severe winter weather conditions, the combined forces and military units of the inter-armed group liberated 12 localities,” Gherasimov claimed, according to France Presse, which states that it could not independently verify these claims.
Der Stabschef der Streitkräfte der Russische Föderation – der erste stellvertretende Verteidigungsminister der Russische Föderation, General der Armee Valery Gerasimov, verlich den Verlauf der Erfüllung der Kampfaufgaben durch die Truppenteile und Einheiten der Truppengruppe… pic.twitter.com/A21msoPCXf
— Mann im Schatten 🇷🇺 (@vladi_the_gr8) February 15, 2026
The pace of Moscow's advance accelerated in the fall, but Russia has not achieved its goal of capturing the Donetsk region during the four years of war.
Russia is demanding that Kiev withdraw from the Donetsk region in order to conclude any agreement to end the conflict — terms unacceptable to Ukraine.
Gherasimov said Moscow's troops were advancing on Sloviansk — an industrial center that briefly fell to pro-Russian separatists in 2014 and is the target of frequent Russian attacks.
Moscow's forces are about 15 kilometers from the city. Moscow claims Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
But it also advanced in other Ukrainian regions. Gerasimov said Russia was “extending a security zone” in the border areas of Sumy and Kharkiv regions in the northeast, where it controls several areas.
The army chief also said he would discuss “future actions in the direction of Dnipropetrovsk” with the officers.
Russian forces entered the region last summer during their westward advance, but the Kremlin has never officially claimed the region.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has reiterated that Moscow plans to seize the entire Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine by force if diplomacy fails.
