While Russian forces have advanced slowly in the Donetsk oblast and have reported new territorial gains, Ukraine has also announced that it has managed to recapture some of the areas lost over the summer. For example, Ukraine's General Staff recently reported the villages of Kutcheriv Yar and Sukhhetske had been liberated.

Ukrainian airborne troops carried out a successful operation there, Ühtegi said, with around 50 Russian soldiers reportedly surrendering. But these types of operations more broadly show that neither side has been able to sufficiently lock-down the frontline.

"This shows that the entire front is porous — flimsy — with many gaps where it is viable to infiltrate into the enemy's rear and launch attacks. This is a common feature along the entire thousand-kilometer front line, simply because it can't be fully covered by troops," Ühtegi told "Esimene stuudio."

The key flashpoint on the frontline remains the logistics hub of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk oblast, where conflicting reports have been emerging about Russian advances and Ukrainian defensive actions. According to Ühtegi, the latest information suggests that Russian forces are already inside the city. "There are reliable sources confirming that Russian troops have reached the railway in the western part of Pokrovsk and the railway station in the city center, meaning the Russians are establishing a foothold in the west of the city. What's actually happening there is hard to say. Fighting is taking place in much of the city," he said.

Russian troops have long been coveting Pokrovsk. Ühtegi compared the battle for the town to the capture of Toretsk, which took Russian forces 14 months. "Something similar is likely to happen in Pokrovsk as well," he added.

The goal of Russian forces is to reach the western border of the Donetsk oblast; to that end, they are currently attempting to push forward in the areas of Bilotske and Rodynske. According to Ühtegi, Ukrainian defenses there have held up fairly well. He added that to capture Pokrovsk, Russia would also need to take control of Myrnohrad, just to the east of Pokrovsk, and essential for the broader offensive.

According to the British publication The Economist, Russia has lost 100,000 men killed since the start of this year alone — the vast majority during the summer offensive, and it has managed to capture only 0.4 percent of Ukrainian territory at that cost. Ühtegi said this provides a good illustration of how slowly the war is progressing.

"These so-called major gains that are being talked about are, in reality, marginal. There have been no major breakthroughs or captures, which shows there's no capacity to achieve them. Both sides are facing major problems in bringing soldiers to the front and holding their lines," Ühtegi said.

Russia's estimated losses since the war began range either side of the one million-mark.

An interactive map of the Ukraine war is here.

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