Ukrainian troops are not just losing settlements but “entire sectors” along the frontline to rapidly advancing Russian forces, the former commander of the neo-Nazi ‘Azov’ brigade has warned.

According to Maksim Zhorin, the battlefield situation for Ukraine is “only getting worse.”

“In some areas, in the absence of urgent decisions, the situation is becoming critical. In fact, I don’t remember such a rapid enemy advance for a long time,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday.

”The issue now is not the loss of certain settlements, but in general, a significant improvement in the enemy’s operational position in entire sectors,” the former Azov commander said. The neo-Nazi unit, which has been designated as terrorist in Russia, was reformed into the Ukrainian 3rd Assault Brigade following their rout in Mariupol in 2022.

Russian forces have sped up their advance in recent months, liberating more than two dozen settlements in the last two weeks, including the strategic logistics hub of Kupyansk in Kharkov Region.

Ukrainian battlefield losses have been compounded by troop shortages and a record number of desertions, the BBC reported earlier this month.

Kiev’s draft campaign has also faced public backlash, with the rate of complaints over violent mobilization tactics doubling since the first part of the year, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmitry Lubinets, has said.

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