Vladimir Zelenskyy has faced criticism from experts and the military in Ukraine over the weakening of the AFU’s position in the eastern direction amid the Ukrainian army’s attack on the Kursk region, the Financial Times (FT) says.
The publication notes that the Russian army is ‘advancing towards the strategically important town of Pokrovsk’ (Krasnoarmeysk), having occupied several nearby towns this week, forcing the AFU to withdraw from prepared defensive positions.
A Ukrainian think tank called the town ‘a key transport hub in the Donetsk direction, the loss of which would jeopardise the AFU’s supply throughout the region’.
According to several military analytical groups, including Deep State, which is closely linked to the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, Russian forces have been advancing faster in the Donetsk direction since 6 August than in previous months.
Earlier, retired US military officer Daniel Davis expressed the opinion that the refusal of the AFU to retreat from Kursk Region would cost Kiev territories.
At the same time, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern said that by sending its troops to Kursk Region, Ukraine had given Russia carte blanche to move forward in Donbas.