Russia Surrounds Key Donbas Towns Rejects Truce; Kharkov Troops Surrender; Witkoff Kushner In Moscow (Alexander Mercouris)

Russian forces are closing in on Ukraine’s key Donbas fortress towns while entire units surrender in the Kharkov region, right as Witkoff and Kushner touch down in Moscow to meet Putin. Alexander breaks down the battlefield collapse around Kostiantynivka, Dobropillya and Sloviansk, and explains why Putin’s answer to Zelensky’s ceasefire push is likely to be another firm rejection. With Donbass cauldrons closing fast, is the diplomacy already too far behind the war?



Time Stamps:

00:00:00 Intro, Witkoff and Kushner touch down in Moscow ahead of Putin meeting
00:02:17 Why the author expects this diplomatic push to fail again
00:04:33 Russian advances west of Kostiantynivka begin, key villages fall
00:07:26 How capturing Bilenke would split Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in two
00:11:27 Dobropillya supply roads being cut, garrison nearing encirclement
00:16:11 Marochko confirms Russian troops clearing Dobropillya village
00:24:51 Why Kyiv is expected to order troops to hold rather than retreat
00:27:50 Svyatohirsk confirmed captured, Yampil pocket and Lyman under threat
00:31:58 Kharkov region encirclement, mass Ukrainian surrenders reported
00:36:32 Situation deteriorating in Zaporizhzhia and the Orikhiv sector
00:38:28 Debunking claimed Ukrainian counteroffensives near Kupyansk
00:41:00 European pressure pushes Washington back to the negotiating table
00:45:27 The buffer zone proposal and Ratcliffe's earlier failed Moscow trip
00:52:51 Why Putin has never made real concessions in past negotiations
00:58:23 What Putin actually conceded, and did not concede, at Anchorage
01:03:23 Zelensky declares a ceasefire, Putin offers only a three day pause
01:08:29 Ryabkov's warning that any deal must reflect ground realities
01:17:19 Why Kyiv will keep refusing to withdraw from Donbas
01:23:02 Revisiting the SBU headquarters strike, now believed to be Russian

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, September 7, 2026.]