Ukraine’s army has captured a Russian commander and inflicted heavy losses on Vladimir Putin‘s army in fierce battles along the eastern front. Russia has significantly stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian positions in March, despite ongoing peace talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia.
According to analysts from the open-source intelligence group Deep State, Putin’s forces have launched 17% more assaults in March than in the whole of February. The number of attacks in recent days has exceeded 200 per day, the highest since the beginning of 2025. Some of the worst affected areas include the Kupyansk, Limansk, Pokrovsk and Kursk fronts.
Ukraine‘s 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade captured a commander and 19 of his soldiers, after a fierce battle near Toretsk in the Donetsk region.
In a post to its Telegram channel, the brigade said: “They were lucky to survive.
“But most of their ‘comrades’ are still lying in the fields and plantations after unsuccessful assaults.”
A video of the captured Russian soldiers was also posted to the unit’s social media channels.
The captured Russian officer identifies himself as platoon commander Alexey Vadimovich Anikeev.
He says he was born on March 4, 1998 and originally comes from the Siberian city of Irkutsk.
“We are the servicemen of the Russian Federation are being held captive by the Ukrainian Army,” he continues.
“And we want to be exchanged for fighters of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine.”
It comes as Ukrainian forces successfully repelled a huge Russian attack in another area of the Donetsk region, inflicting heavy losses.
The Russians lost 59 soldiers in the assault – 26 of whom were killed – as well as five armoured vehicles and 71 drones.
For months, Russia has focused on capturing the remaining parts of Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, targeting strongholds such as Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Toretsk, and Chasiv Yar.
Pokrovsk has been the primary focus of Russia’s ground assaults, with Kurakhove appearing to be the second major target.