Ukrainian servicemen walk along a road beneath anti-drone netting stretched above the route between Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka. These two cities form part of Ukraine’s 'fortress belt' in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops hope to establish a foothold, according to Ukraine’s top army official.
Russian Advances in Donetsk
Russian forces are inching towards the city of Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, attempting to gain a foothold near a heavily defended area. Ukraine’s army chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated on Telegram that 'counter-sabotage measures' are being undertaken in the city. The Ukrainian battlefield mapping project DeepState indicates Russian troops control an area approximately one kilometre (0.6 mile) from the city’s southern outskirts. Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed on Wednesday its forces had taken control of Novodmytrivka, just north of Kostiantynivka.
Northern Sumy Region
On Saturday, Russia’s Defence Ministry announced it had seized the village of Myropillia in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, where Moscow aims to establish a buffer zone. However, the Kursk group of the Ukrainian military dismissed this report as a 'complete lie' on Facebook, asserting that its units control the area. Meanwhile, the regional governor of Sumy reported that a Russian airstrike near the town of Krovelets injured six people, including two in serious condition.
Attacks on Civilians
In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials reported that two people were killed and seven wounded after a Russian drone attacked a minibus on Saturday. Hours later, another minibus in Kherson was attacked, wounding the driver, as stated by regional head Oleskandr Prokudin. On Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a Russian strike damaged port infrastructure in Odesa, but no casualties were reported.
International Reactions
In a development impacting Berlin, a planned drawdown of 5,000 US troops from Germany includes a Biden-era plan to deploy a US battalion with long-range Tomahawk missiles to Germany. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Saturday that this plan should spur Europe to strengthen its own defences. However, two top US Republican lawmakers expressed concern, arguing that the troops should not leave Europe.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met delegates to the ruling party’s youth league congress in Pyongyang, as reported by state media KCNA on Sunday. The North Korean government continues to cast young people as central to both domestic mobilisation and its military role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Eleventh Congress of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League, a once-in-five-years political gathering, aims to mobilise citizens aged roughly 14 to 30. In a letter published on Friday, the ruling Workers’ Party explicitly linked youth loyalty to Pyongyang’s involvement in the Ukraine war, stating that young soldiers sent on overseas operations had 'become bombs and flames' in defending the country’s honour. South Korean, Ukrainian, and western officials estimate that North Korea sent approximately 14,000 troops to fight alongside Russian forces in the Kursk region.
