After Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive failed, Moscow began concentrating its efforts in the east, "throwing everything they have" in the Pokrovsk direction, President Volodymyr Zelensky told French media on July 30.
Ukraine's military acknowledged an increasingly difficult situation in the Pokrovsk direction as battlefield monitoring sites indicate steady progress of Russian troops westward.
"Today, they (Russian forces) are concentrating the largest number of personnel, the largest number of weapons and KAB bombs, everything they have, in the Pokrovsk direction," Zelensky said.
According to the president, Russia shifted its focus to the east after its failure to take Kharkiv, a major city in Ukraine's northeast.
Russia launched the offensive in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast back in May. The push eventually ran out of steam as Ukrainian forces halted Moscow's advance.
The offensive tied down some of Kyiv's troops, however, stretching Ukraine's defenses thin. Russia continued to seize new villages in Donetsk Oblast and push toward Chasiv Yar as the battles in Kharkiv Oblast were ongoing.
Zelensky added that Russian forces also plan to advance in other directions in the east, such as Kostiantynivka, Toretsk, or Sloviansk, but at the moment, Pokrovsk remains the main focus.
Kateryna Denisova
When asked whether Ukraine will be able to prevent further Russian advances, Zelensky said that faster aid deliveries are necessary. He reminded that the Ukrainian military has formed 14 new brigades to relieve units at the front and to serve as reserves, but they are not fully equipped yet.
"What do you think, in your opinion: if three out of the 14 (brigades) are fully equipped, can (Russian advance) be stopped?" Zelensky asked.
Ukraine's head of state said that the second reason for Russia's unrelenting push is that Russian troops are afraid to turn back.
"They are killed if they run back," Zelensky said, ascribing this to a difference between Russia's and Ukraine's values.
As the third reason, Zelensky named restrictions to strike deep inside Russia with Western-supplied arms.
"Russian positions are standing 30, 60, 100 kilometers (from the border), there are planes bombing us, multiple-launch rocket launchers firing at us, Grads, S-300s which they use from Belgorod," Zelensky said.
The U.S. and Germany permitted Ukraine to only use their weapons to attack Russian forces within Ukraine and just across the border to disrupt offensive operations. Zelensky has repeatedly appealed to the U.S. and other allies to lift these restrictions.
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