Russia is preparing the final pressure to record cover

Cover, Ukraine – 19. June: evacuation of civilians from the city by the forces of the National Police Ukraine Unit “White Angels” 19. June 2025 Cover, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Photo: Kostiantin Liberov / Libkos / Getty Images)

Getti images

Last summer, I was on the front line near the cover and saw first hand as rapidly advanced Russian forces. I’ve been joined Volunteers Evacuating civilians from the village of Frontline, just to watch on deep maps because they are very measured trapped by Russian troops later. Ukraine had to retire for several defensive positions.

The news cycle became darker every week. Pokrovsk – a city where the composer Mikola LeonTovich wrote “Shchedrrik”, later known as Carol Bell – is now synonymous is music, but with death and destruction.

However, more than a year later, the cover still stands. It is a big victory in itself. The city became a fortress, and Ukrainian defense counsel do everything that is possible to prevent it from falling.

At the beginning of September, Ukrainian President Volodimir Green discovered If Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump that he intended to take advantage of Donbas within “two to three months, a maximum of four.” It is a sublime goal for ruse. As Wall Street Journal“Yaroslav Trofimov notedSince Ukraine is counter-ministered in 2022. years, Russia has gained less than 1% of Ukrainian territory for hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

Russia hopes that taking cover will provide the opportunity to use the rest of the donation area. According to the Ukrainian Army officialsThe Russians are now aimed at “deciding breakthrough” in the cover, redirection of experienced sea units to the area.

Russian tactics in cover

In mid-August, Russian power infiltrated Ukrainian defense East and northeast of Dobropillija with small sabotage groups, they are improved deep in 10 kilometers, but failed to consolidate their winnings.

Ukraine was 1. “Azov” Corps send To help reinforce areas and Ukrainian counterattacks in the last weeks, they constantly erased those stronghold. Within a few days, 93. The “Kholodnii Charles” Brigade has stalked the villages of chruzka and cheerful near Dobropilli with support for reconnaissance, artillery and drone. They also used Countless earthen vehicles are equipped with machine guns to shoot directly to Russian positions, helping insurance in advance.

Ukrainian forces are now closing on Russian Dobropilia, near the cover, using the Pincer attack From the west and north. The development mold would stab Russian troops with several options outside the submission or destruction.

“Pressing aggressively without insuring their hips, Russia finished the hard sacrifices and strengthened many winnings that,” Shaun Pinner, a former British soldier built in Mari apol, including in the city itself.

The terrain around the cover is also unforgivable: opened, oriented fields with a few natural lid, where the rain quickly turns the ground on the mud. “That kind of environment does not allow fast or clean progress,” Pinkner told me.

“Cover and Dobropillia, where they have recently been unusual for them – lots of units, a lot of staff. But nothing drastically different from 413. Separate unmanned systems struggling in the cover.

Russian forces send waves Small Infantry Groups to investigate Ukrainian defenses, followed by motorcycles. Dense Summer Treens provide cover, helping these attacks in advance under concealment.

Ukrainian drone operators from 23. Separate mechanized brigades work on the front against Russian forces near Chasiv Ira.

Photo: David Kirichenko

Drers make the battlefield transparently, converting the solved power to armored attacks in a dangerous task when combined with artillery. “Each inch line is under constant supervision of Sukos, artillery spot and fire in opposites with the battery almost impossible for any parties to move unnoticed,” Pinner explained.

The Russian forces also rely on the attack on the “Meat” attack, sending waves after the waves of the troops to violate the Ukrainian lines. Those who manage to break in general, keep their positions and wait for reinforcements, maintained in the meanwhile the dependence. “Only 20 out of 100 soldiers do so because the drones were most abolished on access” wrote Zhlukktenko is X.

Drones Anchor Ukraine Defense in Cover

Zhlukteko told me that his team is focused on impact infantry groups and vehicles up to 20 kilometers from the front, distracting progress before starting. “The reason is that we can take out most of the Russians on the way. My team focuses on the infantry groups and vehicles from the front. They hit them so that they never reach the actual battlefield,” said the chlluken.

Despite this, he mentioned, the basics of Russian access could barely move – it is a unmanageable system that still shape the fighting.

“There were not many changes in Russian tactics. What really made the difference is a drones. It is important, because it reduces direct infantry conflicts. It defends with drugs not only is very effective.”

However, the lack of supply stresses of Ukrainian units. Elite Rubicon Drone Formation is targeted on logistical hubs on the front part of the cover-cost-cost-free transfers to the frontline drone crevs. “It’s a war for logistics in cover,” said one Ukrainian soldier Times In an interview. Pressure is just an amplifier need to retrieve the logistical tasks of the front, reducing the risks faced by human operators.

Some units on the front of the donor suffer from a deficiency of drone. Yurii Dimkovich, Freedomed Mechanized Brigade, told me, “We keep a line, but we have far less infantry. The warehouse is almost limited. Each crew is limited to a maximum 25 per day.”

Series Sternenko, Ukrainian volunteer and head of the main charity, wrote On social media that as many as 60% of FPV drones were obtained under state contracts unusable or demand extensive processing after delivery.

In fact, soldiers at several front fronts told me to feel the strain of Moscow ability to produce drone products. It says that 19 Russian undress is needed for Poland and three and a half years of war to understand Europe’s volume of this threat.

Cover remains under everyday pressure, but the effective use of the drone of Ukraine has a limited ability to move forward. “Taking a city like cover is not just about pushing troops forward. Urban struggles are brutal and expensive. Requires labor, equipment and willingness to absorb mass victims,” ​​Pinner said.

He added that Russia will fight to keep such a campaign without continuing to continue with huge losses. “That’s why I don’t believe the cover will fall this year. If it does, it won’t be fast, and there won’t be a lot of town.”

For now, the fortress in the cover holds. However, Europe must understand that without greater support, such battles tilt Moscow, where human lives are cheap and consumables.