Zelenskyy on Russian advance near Dobropillia: They want to generate media coverage ahead of Trump-Putin meeting

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the purpose of Russia’s breakthrough near Dobropillia on the Pokrovsk front is to generate media coverage ahead of the 15 August meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: Zelenskyy at a meeting with journalists on 12 August, as reported by Suspilne 

Quote: "Groups of Russians, without equipment, have advanced about 10 km in several locations. Some have already been located – some of them were killed, some taken prisoner. The rest will also be found and destroyed soon.

The aim of this advance is clear to us: to generate media coverage by 15 August [the date of the Trump-Putin meeting – ed.], especially in the US media, showing that Russia is advancing and Ukraine is losing territory."

Details: Zelenskyy said the Russians are preparing for an offensive on three fronts.

Quote: "They are preparing for an offensive operation, we believe, on three fronts. The main fronts are Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka [the latter is in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast – ed.]. We believe that an additional 15,000 [troops – ed.] will be deployed to the Zaporizhzhia front, about 7,000 to the Pokrovsk front, and possibly 5,000 more to the Novopavlivka front. We believe they will do everything they can to prepare for offensive actions after 15 August."

Background: 

• On 11 August, DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, reported that Russian forces had stepped up their advance towards Dobropillia in recent days, particularly with regard to their attempts to gain a foothold near the Dobropillia-Kramatorsk road.
• The Dnipro Operational Strategic Group added that the Russians are infiltrating small groups past the first line of Ukrainian positions on this front, and that while such infiltration does necessitate deploying reserves to destroy them, it does not constitute "gaining control of territory".
• On the evening of 11 August, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that additional forces had been sent towards Dobropillia to destroy Russian sabotage groups penetrating the line of defence.

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