Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his military at least 15 deadlines in order to capture Donbas since the start of the full-scale invasion, however Russian forces have failed to meet them, as per the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), citing Western and Ukrainian military intelligence.According to Reuters, as early as August 2025, Russian military commanders promised Putin that the Ukrainian front would collapse by October or November, with the Donetsk Oblast being fully captured by the middle of the war’s fourth year.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Those deadlines have repeatedly been pushed back.In spring 2026, sources cited by the Financial Times said that the target had been moved to autumn. By summer, Bloomberg reported that Russian commanders had promised Putin that Donbas would come under full Russian control by winter.Russia controls less than 80% of Donetsk OblastDespite the repeated deadlines, Russian forces currently control 79.89% of the Donetsk Oblast, or around 21,170 square kilometers (8,174 square miles) according to ISW estimates.The institute said the Kremlin’s military objectives “continue to remain detached from reality.”Russian forces captured only 0.8% of Ukraine’s territory in 2025, compared with 0.6% in 2024, according to the figures cited in the report.On some parts of the front, the Russian advance has slowed to as little as 15-70 meters (49-230 feet) per day, described as record-low rates in more than a century of modern warfare.