When the Ukranian allies are reporting the imminent collapse of the frontline and ultimate capture of the whole of Donetsk, you know it is true. The increase in the Russian advances is directly linked with the picnic in Kursk, which is turning to be a great gift to Russia.
The Russian army has rapidly accelerated its offensive in the Donbas after the Ukrainian Armed Forces' incursion into the Kursk region. As of the end of August, the pace of the Russian troops' advance was almost 31 square kilometres per day, estimate analysts from the Finnish group Black Bird based on maps from the Ukrainian project DeepState.
According to calculations by the Black Bird group, the speed at which Russian forces are moving doubled in the last four weeks and continues to increase: in June and July, it was 5 to 10 square kilometres per day, and by mid-August, it was already up to 16 to 21 square kilometres.
"Now, the entire central Donetsk frontline sector is under threat of collapsing," writes military analyst Julian Ropcke of "Bild." "Russian forces [are] advancing in the north and south and hence flanking Ukrainian units in the center," he adds.
