Russia captures two more villages in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's military says
Russian troops have occupied two additional villages in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast amid intensified fighting, the Ukrainian military said in an official statement on Aug. 16.
Russian troops continue pressing Ukrainian lines across the front line, and especially around Dobropillia and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, as Kyiv warns that Moscow may seek to gain leverage in future talks.
Russian forces captured the villages of Popiv Yar, southwest of Dobropillia, and Ivano-Darivka, located northeast of Sloviansk.
Fighting continues as Russian troops push to expand their control near Novyi Shakhove, west of Vuhledar, and step up attacks toward Ivanivka, a settlement in the Dobropillia sector, the statement by Ukraine's Dnipro Group of Forces said.
According to the military, Russian forces continued offensive actions near the towns of Rodynske, Myroliubivka, Pokrovsk, Novoekonomichne, Novoukrainka and Zvirove in an attempt to reach the administrative border of Donetsk Oblast.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a statement posted on social media Aug. 16, acknowledged that the situation in Donetsk Oblast remains "extremely difficult" but said Ukrainian forces have made some successful counterattacks.
"We are defending our positions across the entire front line and have been successful for the second day in a row in some extremely difficult areas in Donetsk Oblast – in the direction of Dobropillia and Pokrovsk," Zelensky wrote.
Zelensky warned that Russia could attempt to intensify attacks in the coming days to create "more favorable political conditions" ahead of planned talks.
The reported Russian advances follow earlier reports from Ukraine's General Staff, which said on Aug. 12 that Moscow had massed more than 110,000 troops near Pokrovsk.
The General Staff described the situation as "complex and dynamic," stressing Ukrainian forces were taking "effective measures" to contain the assaults.
Monitoring group DeepState reported on Aug. 11 that Russian forces made a push toward the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway in Donetsk Oblast, allegedly piercing Ukrainian defenses.
Using a steady flow of small infantry assault groups optimized for infiltration tactics and resupplied with drones, Russian troops successfully advanced over 15 kilometers north, threatening to compromise the defense of several major settlements in the region.
In response, Kyiv redeployed some of its most hardened units to the area, including parts of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard and the 93rd Mechanized Brigade.
Information on the current status of the breach remains scarce, with the entire area falling into a grey zone controlled by drones from both sides, but according to DeepState's Aug. 15 update, a significant part of the area had been retaken by Ukrainian forces.
The intense fighting comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska on Aug. 15.
The nearly three-hour meeting ended without a deal to end the war in Ukraine, which Trump had sought.
