During a difficult week in Ukraine’s ground war, Russian troops completed their conquest of Chasiv Yar, a high ground in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, and claimed to have breached the outskirts of Kupiansk, a city with a pre-war population of more than 26,000, in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region.Both conquests are the result of months-long efforts and have cost the Russians dearly in blood and weapons.At the same time, Russian forces pushed into Dnipropetrovsk, a Ukrainian region whose borders they first breached over the weekend of June 7-8, capturing the village of Sichneve, which Russians call Yanvarskoye. It was the third claimed conquest in Dnipropetrovsk. Earlier, Russia captured Dachnoye and Malynivka.Russia also began to launch jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles to deadly effect, killing 31 people in Kyiv on July 31.Ukraine responded with deep strikes on Russian transport networks and energy hubs. A serviceman of the 57th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine repairs a tank in the Kharkiv region, on August 1, 2025 [Inna Varenytsia/Reuters]Chasiv Yar and the ‘fortress belt’Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its paratroopers overran Chasiv Yar on July 31.Moscow’s forces began to besiege the city in March 2024, about a month after the fall of Avdiivka, 30km (20 miles) to the south freed up offensive troops.Russia prioritised this line of attack after conquering the city of Bakhmut in May 2023, following months of battles led by Wagner Group mercenaries. Advertisement Since Bakhmut fell, Russ …
