As the upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska draws near, Moscow and Kyiv appear to be making strategic moves on the battlefield. Russian forces are advancing rapidly in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns that further attacks are imminent.
According to Ukraine’s military, Russian troops have made swift progress in a strategically important sector northeast of Pokrovsk — a mining town and key battleground in Donetsk, a region Russia seeks to annex. Fighting has been reported in Kucheriv Yar, a small village that was several kilometres from the front lines only weeks ago.
Military analysis platform DeepState, which is aligned with Ukraine’s armed forces, reported that Russian forces moved at least 10 kilometres north along a key road in just one day — a pace described as unusually fast. Maps shared by the platform show a narrow corridor now under Russian control, posing a potential threat to Dobropillia, a nearby town hosting a military garrison.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Russian reconnaissance and sabotage units have been operating near Dobropillia, but cautioned that it is “too early” to call the advance a full operational breakthrough. The coming days, it said, will likely be critical.
In a message on X (formerly Twitter), Zelensky stressed that Russia is not preparing to end the war but rather to intensify it. “We see that the Russian army is preparing for new attacks,” he said, without revealing the exact locations. He urged that global unity should not be undermined.
Today, there was a report from the intelligence and military command on what Putin is counting on and what he is actually preparing for, including military preparations. He is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war. Putin is determined only to present a… pic.twitter.com/T3sqQg0ltT
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 11, 2025
Beyond the battlefield, new data from Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) indicates that European nations are now providing more military aid to Ukraine through defence industry contracts than the United States. From the start of Russia’s invasion until the end of June 2025, European states ordered over €35.1 billion worth of new military equipment for Kyiv — €4.4 billion more than US orders during the same period.
Nearly half of Europe’s military aid is now sourced from defence manufacturers rather than from existing stockpiles. Of the €10.5 billion allocated by Europe in May and June 2025, €4.6 billion is expected to go directly to arms companies, representing almost 44% of total aid during those two months.
