In July, Russians seized up to 550 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine

British intelligence analysts note that in June and July, the occupiers likely captured 500-550 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine, continuing their monthly gains since March 2025. It is known that the Russians continue to try to surround Pokrovsk and put pressure on other logistics routes.

At the same time, according to intelligence estimates, the Russians have not achieved any notable successes in the Sumy region over the past two weeks.

The surrender of Donbas will allow Russia to attack Kharkiv again

The ISW (Institute for Study of War) argues that if Ukraine were to surrender the remaining Ukrainian-controlled areas of Donetsk Oblast as part of a ceasefire agreement, Russian forces would gain strategic positions along the Donetsk-Kharkiv and Donetsk-Dnipropetrovsk borders, advancing approximately 82 kilometers westward. This would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine’s heavily fortified “fortress belt,” built since 2014, weakening Ukraine’s defensive capabilities. Specifically, ceding areas like Lyman in Donetsk Oblast would enable Russian forces to threaten Ukrainian positions on the east bank of the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast, setting favorable conditions for a potential offensive toward Izyum from the south, leveraging key highways like the E-40. Such a move would enhance Russia’s ability to launch attacks on Kharkiv, exploiting less defensible positions and stretching Ukrainian forces thin.

Furthermore, the ISW highlights that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands for Ukraine to cede Donbas and other territories, including parts of Kherson and Zaporizhia, reflect an uncompromising stance aimed at Ukraine’s capitulation rather than good-faith negotiations. These demands, coupled with ongoing Russian drone and missile strikes on Kharkiv and other cities, demonstrate the Kremlin’s intent to maintain pressure and exploit any Ukrainian territorial concessions. The ISW warns that without robust monitoring mechanisms and security guarantees, any ceasefire allowing Russia to retain or gain Donbas territory would likely be violated, enabling Russia to resume aggression from stronger positions, potentially targeting Kharkiv again with intensified offensives. This strategic positioning, combined with Russia’s use of advanced UAV tactics to disrupt Ukrainian defenses, underscores the significant risk to Kharkiv if Donbas is surrendered.

Ukraine liberated a village in Sumy Oblast

Ukrainian forces have liberated the village of Bezsalivka, located on the state border with Russia in Sumy Oblast, according to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces on Aug. 10.

The operation comes as Russia continues attempts to advance deeper into Sumy Oblast, more than two months after opening a new front in the northeast. Ukrainian forces reportedly eliminated 18 Russian soldiers during the liberation, though this claim could not be independently verified.

Bezsalivka lies about 30 kilometers west of the most intense fighting in the oblast, where Russian troops have approached to within 30 kilometers of the regional capital, Sumy. The 33rd Assault Regiment and 24th Assault Battalion took part in the operation.

The fighting follows Ukraine’s withdrawal from Russian territory in neighboring Kursk Oblast, seized during Kyiv’s surprise cross-border incursion in summer 2024. Since then, border areas have experienced increased hostilities.

In May and June, Russian forces made significant advances in Sumy Oblast after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a “security buffer zone” along the border. Ukraine’s defense stabilized in June, and by late July, Ukrainian troops had recaptured several small villages.

Ukraine and the EU rejected Putin's ceasefire proposal and presented a counterproposal to the US ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting

On Aug. 9, the Wall Street Journal reported that Ukrainian and European officials have rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest ceasefire proposal, which called for Kyiv to withdraw from Donetsk Oblast and cede full control of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea to Russia.

The offer was conveyed to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Aug. 6, ahead of a planned Aug. 15 meeting in Alaska between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump. In response, Ukraine and the EU submitted a counterproposal to U.S. officials, insisting that: any ceasefire must be enacted before further steps are taken, territorial changes can only occur on a reciprocal basis, no agreement on Ukraine’s future can be reached without Kyiv’s participationthe

President Volodymyr Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s position on Aug. 9, rejecting the idea of surrendering territory. European officials told WSJ they aim to set a unified red line with Ukraine and ensure EU involvement in any talks. Some leaders expressed concern that Trump and Putin might try to strike a deal and impose it on Ukraine.

Trump has suggested possible “territory swaps” as part of a settlement, but European negotiators have pushed back, warning that beginning negotiations with territorial concessions during active fighting is unacceptable. One EU official described the Russian proposal as “much worse than Trump said on the call” and tantamount to giving “Putin everything he wants in exchange for nothing.”

Zelensky spent the day consulting with leaders from France, the U.K., Finland, Spain, Denmark, and Estonia. French President Emmanuel Macron posted that Ukraine’s future cannot be decided without Ukrainians themselves and that Europeans must be part of the solution, given the direct security implications.

Russia, which has consistently set maximalist conditions for peace—including NATO renunciation and troop withdrawals from all four occupied regions—has previously failed to agree to any ceasefire in past negotiations.