The Russian Army on August 12 achieved its quickest advance in opposition to Ukrainain forces for the reason that begin of the 12 months, with an evaluation of information by the Institute for the Research of Battle noting that on August 12 Russian floor items “captured or claimed to have captured” 110 sq. kilometres of territory that was beforehand Ukrainian held. Though Russian forces have been advancing shortly for a number of months, this seize of territory was 5 to 6 occasions the common fee, and by far the quickest in sixteen months since Might 2024. Advances have accelerated since Ukrainian forces have been routed within the Russian Kursk area, which not solely noticed the Ukrainain Army and supporting Western forces take very important manpower and materials losses, but in addition allowed the Russian Army to refocus its forces in the direction of the frontlines within the disputed Donbas areas. The entry of North Korean personnel into the struggle, which presently guard Kursk from future Ukrainian assaults, has additional taken strain of Russian forces.
Commenting on the state of Ukrainian defences, former chief of employees of the Ukrainian Army’s elite Azov Brigade Lieutenant Colonel Bogdan Krotevich claimed that positions within the disputed Donbas areas are dealing with catastrophe, with Russian items poised to attain two main encirclements. “I truthfully don’t know what precisely you might be being advised, however I can inform you: the Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka line is, with out exaggeration, a whole f**ok up. And this f**ok up has been rising for a very long time, getting messier daily,” he said in an open letter to President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 11, the day earlier than Russian floor items made their file advance.
Pokrovsk has been surrounded by Russian forces, whereas Konstantinovka is dealing with semi-encirclement, Krotevich additional famous, sharing a map which he claimed confirmed the state of affairs within the space, which corroborated media experiences of a significant Russian breakthrough to the north of Pokrovsk. The speed of Russian advances has been thought-about a major issue main america to accentuate efforts to attain a ceasefire, which would offer Ukrainain forces with a lot wanted time to rebuild. This has additionally led European states to situation threats to extra actively intervene within the battle.
