The German newspaper Bild published new data on the progress of military operations in Ukraine, which indicate that the Russian army was able to capture five Ukrainian settlements in the Donbas, despite the limited success of the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region.
"While the Ukrainian army was able to take under its control only one small Russian town of Suja (6,000 inhabitants), the Russian army of occupation conquered five Ukrainian settlements with a total population of more than 53,000 inhabitants in August alone - including Novogrodivka, Krasnohorivka , Druzhba, Severny and New York," the article reads.
"Ukraine in Donbas is paying a high price for the successes near Kursk. Russia's pressure on Pokrovsk and its evacuation calls into question the strategy of the Ukrainian leadership," said military expert Niko Lange.
Lange sees a direct connection between the successes of the Armed Forces in Russia and the increasingly threatening situation in Donbas.
"Kyiv took its best units from the east of the country in order to be able to advance in the west of Russia. Understaffed units in Donbas cannot stand up to the Russians, which causes internal discussions and riots," says Lange.
The publication presents other points of view - that the Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region showed the West the shakiness of Russia's "red lines", and from this point of view it is successful. But, as Bild writes, so far the West has not reacted the way Kyiv would like.
"Berlin, Paris, London and Washington have not revised their bans on the use of supplied weapons against Russian airfields and other strategic targets in Russia," the publication reminds.
