Military and political observer Oleksandr Kovalenko discussed the issue.In 2025, the Russian forces concentrated near Pokrovsk were tasked with capturing the city “as quickly as possible,” driven by both military and political motives.“In particular, the Kremlin sought to demonstrate to newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump its ability to advance and capture territory. But Moscow failed to impress Trump, and the 100,000-strong Russian force became bogged down near Pokrovsk for months,” the military expert noted.During the summer offensive, Russian forces planned to encircle Pokrovsk from three sides to prepare for urban combat, but the 90th Tank Division failed to advance beyond the Kurakhove area or reach Dnipropetrovsk region.“Throughout June and July, Russian occupation forces failed to achieve significant progress, and on the eve of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, the 51st Combined Arms Army launched what could be called the 'Dobropillia breakthrough,' which ultimately turned into a suicidal performance,” he said.On the night of August 8–9, Russian forces launched an operation with small infantry groups near Nove Shakhove, advancing 15–16 km into the weakest Ukrainian defenses using the complex terrain, the ravines near Zolotyi Kolodiaz and gaps between brigade positions.However, the lack of stable logistics and secure flanks caused the Russian units that had advanced to become isolated by Ukrainian Defense Forces and eventually completely encircled.“Thus, the Dobropillia operation that began two months ago turned into a 'meat grinder' for the Russian forces, resulting in the loss of combat capability of several battalions and a collapse along the entire Pokrovsk direction, while also weakening other sectors from which scarce troops and resources had been diverted. The Russian command is determined to take Pokrovsk during the 2025–2026 autumn-winter period, but it set similarly ambitious goals last year as well,” Kovalenko concluded.