Russia continues its rapid advance in eastern Ukraine toward the key city of Pokrovsk, prompting public criticism of Ukraine's military leadership and questions about Volodymyr Zelensky's decision to launch a bold initiative in Russia's Kursk region.
Russian forces have been trying for months to capture Pokrovsk, a strategically important mining town that had a population of around 60.000 before the war, but their progress has accelerated significantly in recent weeks.
Deep State, a Ukrainian group close to the Ministry of Defense that monitors frontline activity, reported that on Friday Russian forces were less than 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Pokrovskoe, where local officials ordered a mass evacuation, the Guardian reports.
Russian military bloggers also reported that forces entered the nearby town of Sjelidove, south of Pokrovsko.
As Putin's troops advance toward Pokrovsk, Russia shelled an apartment building and a children's playground in Kharkiv, killing at least five people, including a child, and wounding 40 people, according to Kharkiv's mayor.
Videos circulating on social media show flames shooting out of the building, which officials say was hit by a gliding bomb. Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, has been under constant shelling since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Pokrovsk, located at the intersection of several key roads, facilitates the supply of Ukrainian forces along a wide front line, and its fall could open the way for further Russian advances in the Donetsk region.
"The situation is very bad and has deteriorated rapidly," said one commander whose troops are stationed near Pokrovsk, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
"Time will tell if we should have sent troops to Kursk instead of defending the east. But for now, we're putting up with it," he added.
Kiev's surprise offensive in Russia's Kursk region earlier this month boosted morale at home and raised hopes that the bold attack could force Moscow to divert its troops from the eastern front.
However, more than three weeks since the start of the operation, the Ukrainian military has admitted that Russia has not yet diverted its forces from eastern Ukraine to regain its territory, while Kiev's progress in the Kursk region has slowed significantly.
Ukraine still holds part of Russian territory, and in Sumy, the Ukrainian city closest to the operation, there are visible signs of initiative, with an increased military presence in the city and frequent sightings of military equipment headed in Russia's direction.
On Friday, Russian attacks on Suma killed two women and wounded eight others, regional officials said, claiming that guided aerial bombs were used to attack the factory. Attacks on areas near the border are frequent. Regional authorities called on residents of those areas to evacuate as soon as possible. More than 20.000 people have already left the border areas.
Ukraine's top general, Oleksandr Sirski, said last week that Moscow had moved 30.000 troops to retake its territories in the Kursk region, while some troops had been moved from occupied southern Ukraine.
Crucially, he also said that Russia is simultaneously stepping up its efforts in the Pokrovskoye sector.
A popular Ukrainian analyst and officer in the army reserve, who goes by the nickname Tatarigami, said that the deterioration of the situation on the front in the Donetsk region was caused by the Kursk offensive, which, according to him, "distracted experienced and motivated brigades, weakened reserves and allowed Russian forces to advance quickly".
He also accused the Ukrainian military leadership of trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation.
"Unfortunately, high command continues to receive reports of a 'controlled situation', which is far from controlled... Lies, lies, lies," the analyst tweeted.
Zelensky this week rejected accusations that the diversion of experienced troops to Kursk had weakened Ukraine's position in Pokrovsk.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Ukraine's president described the situation in Pokrovsk as "extremely difficult," but argued that the incursion had actually slowed Russia's advance on the city.
However, data from open sources, along with military analysts close to the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian bloggers, paint a different picture, showing a deterioration of the front line since August 6, when Ukrainian forces first entered Kursk.
Even before Ukraine decided to send troops to Kursk, the country had been on the defensive in eastern Ukraine for months, facing delayed Western aid while its forces were outnumbered and exhausted.
Some Ukrainian soldiers said that the Kursk offensive was not to blame for the collapse of the front lines. Instead, they attribute the difficulties to troop exhaustion, as some soldiers have been fighting since the beginning of the invasion more than two years ago.
"Currently, it seems that our front in Donbass has disintegrated," wrote Roman Ponomarenko, an officer of the Azov Brigade, on Telegram.
"The defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is disorganized, the troops are tired, weakened, and many units are demoralized... And this is not because of the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kursk," he added.
Ukraine has since managed to partially rebuild its forces thanks to strict new conscription laws introduced by the government, lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25.
However, newly mobilized soldiers appear to have been sent to the front lines with limited military training.
"The reinforcements we have received are largely untrained and unhelpful; instead, they complicate combat operations," Ponomarenko wrote.
In an interview last week with The Associated Press, a battalion commander in Ukraine's 47th Brigade said some of the newly mobilized soldiers "don't want to shoot."
"They see the enemy in positions in the trenches, but they don't open fire... That's why our people die," he said.
Morale in Ukraine was further damaged by the news of the crash of the first F-16 fighter jet delivered from the West, which resulted in the death of famous pilot Oleksiy Mjes, known as Moonfish.
Mjes was part of the first group of experienced Ukrainian pilots trained in the West to fly F-16 planes.
Ukraine's military said the plane crashed while repelling a major Russian attack on Monday, although a Ukrainian lawmaker claimed the plane was shot down by friendly fire.
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