More than two weeks after a surprise cross-border raid into western Russia, Ukraine's advance is slowing, with the military making only minor gains in areas around controlled territory.
Meanwhile, more than 320km southeast of this area, another attack is going strong: Russia is moving towards Pokrovsk - a stronghold in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Russia's attack puts Ukraine in a precarious position of having to protect an important front while also trying to advance on another front with limited troops and weapons, the New York Times pointed out.
This week, Russian troops occupied at least three more settlements near Pokrovsk, expanding control over the area. The Russian army is currently about 13km from the center of Pokrovsk, according to DeepState, an analysis group with close ties to the Ukrainian military.
Pokrovsk has more than 40,000 residents and is a transit hub for Ukrainian forces in the east of the country. This city is located on the main road - highway T054 - connecting several cities to form a defensive arc protecting the Donetsk area controlled by Ukraine. The loss of Pokrovsk will have a significant impact on Ukraine's ability to maintain general defense in Donetsk, experts note.
According to field maps compiled by the Finland-based Black Bird Group conflict monitoring unit, Russian troops have approached the last line of Ukrainian trenches and anti-tank trenches here. Ukrainian officials have called on Pokrovsk residents to evacuate within the next 2 weeks, before the situation worsens.
Meanwhile, northeast of Pokrovsk, around the towns of Toretsk and New York (sometimes called New York), Russian forces advanced slowly but surely. The defense of New York and Toretsk is important for Ukraine because these locations will protect another city in the defensive arc: Kostiantynivka, about 15km to the northwest.
Analysts note that the goal of Ukraine's attack on Western Russia is to force Moscow to move troops from the front lines in eastern Ukraine. However, Ukraine's offensive in Russia did not have much impact on the fighting in the Donetsk region.
On August 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Ukrainian border near where the country's army attacked Russia. He said Ukraine currently controls about 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory. This area is equivalent to the territory that Russia controlled of Ukraine in the first 7 months of this year, according to the Institute for the Study of War. But most of these gains were achieved in the first week of the attack on Russia. Over the past week, Ukraine has made only a few advances around the controlled territory, reaching a few villages.
Analysts point out that this is because Ukrainian forces are facing reinforcements that Russia has dispatched to the area, mainly soldiers from garrisons in Russia. According to a Ukrainian commander, Russian forces "have significantly increased artillery fire and the resistance of infantry units has increased".
An open source intelligence researcher analyzed combat footage and shared with the New York Times that Ukraine lost at least 65 pieces of military equipment, including four US-made Stryker armored vehicles while suffering equipment losses. Russia's is 40.
