Ukraine struggles to contain Russian summer advances as US aid stalls
KYIV (REUTERS) Russia has made incursions near two towns key to army supply routes in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian military official said on Wednesday, as Moscow seeks a breakthrough in a summer offensive at a time of uncertainty over US support for Kyiv.In recent weeks, Russia has amassed forces and despite heavy losses has advanced in rural areas either side of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, which both sit on crossroads running to the frontline from larger cities in Ukrainian-controlled territory.Russia's advances on the front are matched by an intensification of drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities, following signs that Washington's support for Ukraine's war effort is faltering.So far, the efforts by US President Donald Trump have failed to achieve a ceasefire in the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in 2022.One of the aims of the Russian offensive is to occupy the rest of the Donetsk region. Now, they are using small assault groups, light vehicles, and drones to push towards the neighbouring region, said Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces."There are constant attacks with the intent of breaking through" to the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region at any cost, Trehubov said in written comments to Reuters.Russia now has 111,000 soldiers in the Pokrovsk area, which it has been trying to seize since early last year, Ukraine's top armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said last week, describing dozens of battles in the area every day.A decision by Washington to halt some deliveries of various weapons including precision rocket artillery to Kyiv will worsen the situation on the ground for Ukraine's forces, said Jack Watling, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank."The loss of these supplies will significantly degrade Ukraine's ability to strike Russian forces beyond 30 km (19 miles) from the front line and therefore allow Russia to improve its logistics," Watling said.
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