Russia eyes Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ after fall of Chasiv Yar

During a hard week successful Ukraine’s crushed war, Russian troops completed their conquest of Chasiv Yar, a precocious crushed successful Ukraine’s eastbound Donetsk region, and claimed to person breached the outskirts of Kupiansk, a metropolis with a pre-war colonisation of much than 26,000, successful Ukraine’s bluish Kharkiv region.

Both conquests are the effect of months-long efforts and person outgo the Russians dearly successful humor and weapons.

At the aforesaid time, Russian forces pushed into Dnipropetrovsk, a Ukrainian portion whose borders they archetypal breached implicit the play of June 7-8, capturing the colony of Sichneve, which Russians telephone Yanvarskoye. It was the 3rd claimed conquest successful Dnipropetrovsk. Earlier, Russia captured Dachnoye and Malynivka.

Russia besides began to motorboat jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles to deadly effect, sidesplitting 31 radical successful Kyiv connected July 31.

Ukraine responded with heavy strikes connected Russian transport networks and vigor hubs.

A serviceman of the 57th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine repairs a vessel successful the Kharkiv region, connected August 1, 2025 [Inna Varenytsia/Reuters]

Chasiv Yar and the ‘fortress belt’

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its paratroopers overran Chasiv Yar connected July 31.

Moscow’s forces began to besiege the metropolis successful March 2024, astir a period aft the autumn of Avdiivka, 30km (20 miles) to the southbound freed up violative troops.

Russia prioritised this enactment of onslaught aft conquering the metropolis of Bakhmut successful May 2023, pursuing months of battles led by Wagner Group mercenaries.

Since Bakhmut fell, Russian forces person conquered a salient moving 27km (17 miles) westbound of it. Chasiv Yar presented a situation and a prize – a situation due to the fact that it sat astride a canal that formed a earthy antiaircraft barrier, and a prize due to the fact that it is simply a vantage constituent from which Russia tin survey the remaining escaped areas of Donetsk.

“Chasiv Yar is simply a cardinal tallness successful presumption of adjusting reflection and conducting combat operations,” subject adept Vitaly Kiselyov told the Soloviev Live tv web successful Russia.

“To each appearances, we volition beryllium outflanking from the southbound and the north, gradually puncturing the force forces and edging them out, each the much truthful arsenic we present clasp an advantageous tallness comparative to each different settlements,” said Kiselyov.

Another Russian subject adept said the seizure of Chasiv Yar enabled Russian forces to beforehand towards the alleged “fortress belt” of heavy defended Ukrainian cities successful Donetsk.

“Chasiv Yar is situated connected a hilltop, and beyond it, determination are precise immense expanses of level terrain. The nearest agglomeration – Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka – is good fortified,” Andrey Marochko told the Russian newswire TASS.

Chasiv Yar sits astatine the bluish extremity of an attempted Russian encirclement of Konstiantynivka, and connected Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed its forces had captured Aleksandro-Kalinovo, connected the confederate extremity of the crab’s claw enclosing Konstiantynivka.

Some analysts disagreed that the autumn of Chasiv Yar was arsenic important arsenic Russian analysts made it sound.

“Tactical Russian advances westward successful Chasiv Yar bash not represent an operationally important improvement successful this area,” said the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based deliberation tank.

“Russian forces person held astir of bluish and cardinal Chasiv Yar since precocious January 2025 and began advancing successful southwestern Chasiv Yar successful mid-June 2025,” the ISW said.

It added that Ukrainian lines of connection were not further threatened, since “Russian forces person been wrong conduit artillery scope of Ukraine’s main logistics way done the fortress loop since precocious January 2025 and person held positions on the T-0504 Bakhmut-Kostyantynivka road for respective months, and person yet to importantly endanger Ukrainian positions successful Kostiantynivka.”

Residents locomotion astatine the tract of an flat gathering deed by a Russian subject onslaught successful the metropolis of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, July 31, 2025 [Yevhen Titov/Reuters]

The concern was antithetic successful Pokrovsk, immoderate 35km (22 miles) southwest of Chasiv Yar, which Russia has besides besieged.

Denis Pushilin, the caput of the pro-Russian, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said Ukrainian lines of connection into Pokrovsk had been impaired.

“The force has been mostly denied the anticipation to present ammunition and transportation retired unit rotation,” Pushilin said.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii said connected Telegram, “The astir hard concern present is successful the Pokrovsk, Dobropillia, and Novopavlivka directions,” naming 2 much settlements that prevarication down Pokrovsk successful unoccupied Donetsk.

“The force is expanding efforts to seizure our cardinal agglomerations, looking for susceptible spots successful our defence, and conducting progressive combat operations simultaneously connected respective fronts,” helium said.

He said Russian forces were forming sabotage groups successful the Ukrainian rear successful an effort astatine “total infiltration”, and that Ukraine was “using anti-sabotage reserves, whose task is to hunt for and destruct force sabotage groups”.

Kupiansk and the ‘buffer zone’

At the bluish extremity of the front, Russia claimed to person entered Kupiansk successful Kharkiv connected Tuesday.

Russian troops were warring thoroughfare battles successful Kupiansk, Russian subject adept Andrey Marochko told TASS. He said troops were deploying small, mobile groups targeting Ukrainian positions with precise strikes.

Russia’s forays into Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv prevarication beyond Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, the 4 regions Russia formally annexed successful September 2022.

Russia claims to beryllium creating a buffer portion to support those regions, but Ukraine believes that assertion to beryllium an excuse for further occupation.

Russian low-level officials person suggested that the buffer portion should beryllium astatine slightest 30km (20 miles) deep, but the Russian enactment has placed nary specified limit.

Former pro-Russia work members stitchery to observe the Paratroopers’ Day, the yearly vacation of Russia’s Airborne Troops, successful Donetsk, Russian-controlled portion of Ukraine, August 2, 2025 [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]

Moscow besides continued its long-range strikes against Ukraine.

An overnight drone onslaught connected July 31 killed 31 radical successful Kyiv. The Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Russia utilized jet-powered Shahed drones, which question overmuch faster than the propeller-driven kind, and are hard to intercept.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 8 Iskander-K cruise missiles from Kursk metropolis and 309 Shahed-type and decoy drones. United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “an perfectly vile, brutal strike”.

The warfare of words

Even arsenic helium pressed connected with these offensives, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine was not acceptable for bid talks.

During a quality league with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko connected Friday, Putin said, “In principle, we tin hold if the Ukrainian enactment believes that present is not the time,” adding that “all disappointments originate from excessive expectations.”

He was referring to the information that 3 rounds of nonstop negotiations person yielded nary ceasefire.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko sojourn the Valaam Monastery successful the Republic of Karelia, Russia, August 1, 2025 [Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters]

United States President Donald Trump repeated past week that helium was “disappointed” successful Putin, and has successful caller weeks allowed US weapons to travel to Ukraine.

On Friday, the US Pentagon said it would merchantability Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air (AMRAAM) missiles to Ukraine.

Trump besides got into a societal media spat with Dmitry Medvedev, the lawman caput of Russia’s National Security Council, aft Medvedev objected to Trump’s August 9 deadline for Russia to seal a ceasefire deal.

On Saturday, Trump wrote connected his TruthSocial work that helium had “ordered 2 Nuclear Submarines to beryllium positioned successful the due regions, conscionable successful lawsuit these foolish and inflammatory statements are much than conscionable that”.

On the aforesaid day, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff connected India for buying Russian oil. On Tuesday, helium told CNBC, “I’m going to rise that precise substantially implicit the adjacent 24 hours, due to the fact that they’re buying Russian oil, they’re fuelling the warfare machine, and if they’re going to bash that, I’m not going to beryllium happy.”

Ukraine’s strikes

Meanwhile, Ukraine stepped up its interdiction run against Russian vigor and transport infrastructure.

On July 31, Russia said it changeable down 32 Ukrainian long-range UAVs successful its occidental borderline regions. As a effect of the Ukrainian attack, it said obstruction services successful the Volgograd portion were delayed.

Ukraine has been attacking the Russian railways connecting defence factories to the front, said open-source quality gatherer Frontelligence Insight.

Andriy Kovalenko, caput of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, said a vigor mill successful Penza, Russia was attacked, which made mobile bid complexes and automated combat power systems.

On Saturday, Ukraine unleashed a wide-ranging acceptable of strikes.

Kovalenko said the Radio Plant successful Penza was attacked a 2nd time, on with Electropribor, a shaper of encryptors, unafraid modems and switches for subject and quality agencies.

Ukraine besides deed a retention and motorboat tract for Shahed drones astatine the Primorsko-Akhtarsk subject airfield successful Krasnodar.

But its biggest hits were against lipid refineries.

Ukraine attacked the Ryazan Oil Refinery, 1 of Russia’s 4 largest, liable for much than 6 percent of each refining successful Russia, causing a fire. Also deed was the Novokuybyshevsk Oil Refinery adjacent Samara city, wherever explosions were filmed. Ukraine besides struck the Annanafteproduct lipid depot successful the Voronezh region, mounting it alight, and connected Sunday, a Ukrainian long-range onslaught deed an lipid depot successful Sochi connected the Black Sea.

Ukrainian media reported that explosions damaged the main Russian state pipeline carrying state from Turkmenistan to Russia, shutting it down indefinitely. The media outlets said it supplied subject industries, including the Demikhov Machine-Building Plant, the MiG craft company, and the Magnum-K ammunition plant.

Service members of the 13th Operative Purpose Brigade ‘Khartiia’ of the National Guard of Ukraine remainder arsenic they instrumentality from a combat ngo successful the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, August 2, 2025 [Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]