Russia’s strategy of opening new pressure points faster than Ukraine can plug them is working – and the evidence is accumulating from Sumy to Donetsk.
In northern Sumy region, Russian assault groups breached the state border near the village of Volkovka on August 18, establishing yet another bridgehead in the region. Ukrainian command has no choice but to respond — but the cupboard of available reinforcements is running low. The territorial defense brigade holding this section of the border lacks the combat power to contain a determined push on its own, and pulling in capable units means stripping them from somewhere else. That is precisely the point. Russia is is forcing Ukraine to spread its best formations across an ever-wider front until none of them are concentrated enough to hold anywhere effectively.
The same sector produced another illustration of just how costly Ukrainian counterattacks have become. Four assault groups of the 68th Air Mobile Brigade attempted to retake positions near Mogrytsa and were destroyed almost in their entirety by concentrated Russian fire. The 50th Artillery Brigade of the 14th Army Corps, responsible for fire support in this sector, has suffered heavy casualties in personnel and equipment – severe enough that higher command has been forced to redeploy gun crews from the 55th Separate Artillery Brigade “Zaporizka Sich,” a formation better known for its media profile than its battlefield availability.
A sector that had gone quiet for nearly a month is stirring again near Kupyansk. With both sides focused elsewhere, this stretch of the front had seen little movement. That is changing. Russian assault groups have seized the eastern portion of Kovsharivka, a sizable settlement in the area, while Ukrainian forces retain the western residential district. The significance is practical: as long as Ukrainian forces hold that foothold, the road to a major rail junction and the critical highway bridge over the Oskol River remains blocked.
In the Dobropillia sector, the situation for Ukrainian defenders is deteriorating rapidly. As of August 18, advance units of the “Center” grouping have seized most of the village of Krasnodillia, with fighting for the neighboring Matiasheve expected to begin within days. The broader picture around Dobropillia is constrained by logistics: Vodianske and Svitle remain contested, blocking stable supply routes to forward Russian units, while drone activity over open terrain is making overland resupply from the direction of Shevchenko extremely hazardous.
Ukraine is reacting to Russian moves rather than dictating its own. Each new bridgehead opened in Sumy demands a response; each counterattack launched costs more than it recovers. That is not a war of attrition Ukraine can win – it is one that is quietly being lost, sector by sector.
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