Russia Kiev warns of major new Russian offensive
According to information from Kiev, Russia is planning another major offensive in the eastern Ukrainian industrial region of Donbass.
30.08.2025, 05:11
SDA
The advance could take place in the area around the city of Pokrovsk, warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in a conversation with media representatives, according to the news agency Interfax Ukraine. "The concentration (of troops) there is up to 100,000, that's what we have this morning," he said. The Russian troops were preparing the advance in any case. But Ukraine is prepared for it, said Selenskyj. He considered the situation to be under control.
Combat drones and missiles against Ukrainian cities again
Meanwhile, the Russian military attacked a number of Ukrainian cities with combat drones and cruise missiles during the night. The cities of Zaporizhia and Dnipro were the main targets of the Russian attacks this time. According to media reports, both cities were rocked by heavy explosions. Attacks using kamikaze drones were also reported from Kiev and other cities.
Three people were injured in Zaporizhia, according to military administrator Ivan Fedorov. Several residential buildings caught fire after being hit. No information about possible casualties or damage was initially available from the other cities attacked.
Russians have so far failed to take Pokrovsk
Pokrovsk is a mining town in the south of the Donetsk region - it had around 60,000 inhabitants before the war. After months of siege and constant shelling, there are only a few inhabitants left. However, the Russian troops have not yet succeeded in capturing the strategically important transportation hub.
Ukraine has now overcome a crisis in this section of the front at the beginning of the month. A kilometer-long breakthrough by the Russians has been stopped. With counterattacks, the defenders have succeeded in cutting off parts of the Russian troops.
Donetsk region important for Putin
The Donetsk region is a priority for the Russian war effort. During the most recent talks between Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, the Russian is said to have demanded that Kiev give up the region as a condition for freezing the front elsewhere.
There is no official proof of this demand, but Russia started the war three and a half years ago on the premise that the regions, only a small part of which were held by pro-Russian separatists at the time, should be completely seceded from Ukraine. It was only later that the Kremlin expanded its territorial claims to include the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions in the south of Ukraine.
Conquests of 600 to 700 square kilometers every month
Most recently, Russian troops have been able to make up ground, particularly in the south of the Donetsk region, and have even advanced into the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region. According to Russia's Defense Minister Andrey Beloussov, Moscow's war of conquest is going well and has recently gained significant momentum. "If at the beginning of the year we liberated 300 to 400 square kilometers every month, now it's 600 to 700," said Beloussov at a meeting of the ministry. By comparison, the city of Hamburg has an area of 755 square kilometers.
Beloussov also expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing Russian airstrikes on Ukraine. This year, 35 such massive air strikes have already been carried out against 146 strategically important objects of the enemy. This has severely weakened Ukraine's military infrastructure, he said. Just the day before, Russia had fired heavily on the city of Kiev, among other places, killing at least 25 civilians.
According to Beloussov, the losses of the Ukrainian military this year amount to 340,000 soldiers. He did not provide any information on his own losses. The minister's statements cannot be verified independently. In the past, however, both sides have usually exaggerated enemy losses and swept their own under the carpet.
Stalled negotiations
The Russian invasion has been going on for three and a half years. Moscow now controls around a fifth of Ukraine's territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. There have been direct negotiations between the warring parties for the first time in three years since May. So far, however, there has been no breakthrough.
Kiev accuses Moscow of delaying the negotiations in order to force a military decision. However, even at the pace Beloussov has stated for the conquests, it would still take around 60 years before the Russian military had completely conquered the neighboring state.
