European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas has warned that Europe’s roads, bridges and railways cannot support rapid movement of tanks, troops and military supplies in case of war with Russia, Financial Times reported on 29 July.

“If Nato’s tanks were called to respond to an invasion by Moscow’s forces across the EU’s eastern border, they would get stuck in tunnels, cause bridges to collapse and get snarled up in border protocols,” Tzitzikostas told the publication.

The Greek commissioner outlined plans to spend €17 billion ($20 bn) on overhauling continental infrastructure to boost military mobility.

“We have old bridges that need to be upgraded. We have narrow bridges that need to be widened. And we have nonexistent bridges to be built,” he said.

Current infrastructure poses significant obstacles for military operations. European trucks typically weigh up to 40 tonnes, while tanks reach 70 tonnes. “The reality today is that if we want to move military equipment and troops from the western side of Europe to the eastern side, it takes weeks and in some cases months,” Tzitzikostas added.

The European Union is developing a strategy to ensure troops can move “in a matter of hours, maximum a matter of days” in response to an attack. The plan involves upgrading 500 infrastructure projects along four military corridors across the continent.

These projects, identified in conjunction with NATO and the alliance’s military commanders, remain confidential for security reasons. Brussels also plans to reduce bureaucracy to prevent “tanks being stuck in paperwork” when crossing borders, according to Tzitzikostas.

The strategy, set to be presented later this year, forms part of broader war preparations amid warnings of possible confrontation with Moscow and expected reduction in US military presence in Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned in June that Russia could attack alliance members by 2030. German Federal Intelligence Service assessments indicate Russia views itself in systemic conflict with the West and is preparing for major war with NATO.

EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius shared Western intelligence assessments that Russian attack on EU states could occur within the next few years.

Russian troops have made new advances on the front between Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, said Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia operational group, during a broadcast on Suspilne.

Pokrovsk is one of the main strongholds of Ukraine’s defense in Donetsk. For more than a year, Russian forces have been trying to capture the city because its loss would open the way for deeper advances, cut key supply routes, and expose Kostiantynivka and other Ukrainian-held towns to direct threat.

According to Trehubov, Russian units are now trying to bypass Pokrovsk from the east to put the city in a partial encirclement rather than storming it head‑on.

“There has been some movement on the Pokrovsk front — a partial penetration between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. They are trying to expand this foothold, while our forces focus on inflicting maximum losses in manpower and equipment, slowing their advance and pushing them back,” Trehubov said.

Encirclement instead of direct assault

Russian forces, he said, are avoiding a direct assault and aiming instead to isolate Pokrovsk. Military analyst Yan Matveev explains that the Russian plan is to pin down Ukrainian units inside the city, sever their supply lines, and, if possible, surround and destroy them.

Two axes of fighting

Combat is currently active on two main fronts:

• The southwestern outskirts of Pokrovsk
• The northeast, around Rodynske, Suvorove and Nikanorivka

Small Russian infantry groups are also infiltrating through Zverevo and Pervomaiske. Their task is to slip into the outskirts, unsettle Ukrainian defenses from the rear, and prepare the ground for larger forces.

Supply lines under threat

At the same time, Russian units are attempting to seize Rodynske or bypass it from the north, which would allow them to cut Pokrovsk’s two main supply roads. Drones and ground attacks are being used to make these supply routes impassable while defenders are pinned down on the city’s edge.

“For Russian forces, synchronization is crucial,” Matveev said. “If supply lines remain intact, their losses will be heavy. If Ukrainian troops are free to maneuver, they can avoid encirclement.”

Broader concerns from analysts

Military analyst Kostyantyn Mashovets warns that the danger goes beyond Pokrovsk itself and reflects a broader weakening of Ukrainian positions along several stretches of the front.

“What worries me most now is the way the front is starting to give way in several areas, at least at the tactical level,” Mashovets wrote. “If the country’s military and political leadership keeps focusing on anything other than the war itself, the consequences could be extremely serious.”

Mashovets outlines a stark scenario if the situation does not change:

• Pokrovsk could fall before autumn.
• Kostiantynivka and Kupiansk could be at risk in the autumn.
• By the end of the year, Russian forces might reach the approaches to Zaporizhzhia, a major industrial city of roughly one million people, and once again threaten the Sloviansk–Kramatorsk agglomeration, which serves as the administrative and logistical hub for Ukrainian defenses in Donetsk.

He points to two factors driving these risks:

1. Russia’s considerable — “multiple,” as he puts it — advantage in combat-ready infantry across several operational directions.
2. The growing likelihood that Russia will move from voluntary recruitment to a system of forced mobilization. Mashovets warns that this shift is becoming more and more real and must be addressed as quickly as possible.

Ukraine’s difficult choices

The failure to hold the defensive line along the Kazennyi Torets River has left Pokrovsk more vulnerable. Analysts now see only two options:

1. Withdraw from Pokrovsk (considered unlikely)
2. Defend the city and its northern approaches at the same time, holding out as long as possible and counterattacking if reserves are available.

“If Syrskyi — who commands Ukraine’s Armed Forces — has mechanized reserves,” Matveev adds, “this is the time to use them.”

A longer timeline than it seems

Not all analysts see Pokrovsk as the most immediate danger.

While some experts emphasize the urgency of holding the city, military analyst Bohdan Myroshnykov argues that Russian operations around Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka are still in a preparatory phase rather than ready for a full-scale assault.

“The Kostiantynivka axis is only beginning,” he says. “The enemy is creating the conditions for an encirclement or an assault, and this will not be resolved in a month—or even in three.”

According to Myroshnykov, around Pokrovsk these conditions are already about 75% in place, but the main phase—the attempt to storm the entire Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad agglomeration—is still months away.

“Even by the end of the year they will still be setting up for that,” he adds, “and it is far from certain they will meet their own timetable.”

He notes that Russian units are now close to Pokrovsk’s outskirts, but says this is not yet enough for a full assault. In his assessment, other sectors of the front—Novopavlivka, Kupiansk and Siversk—pose a more immediate concern because Ukrainian forces there have less clarity and fewer resources to stabilize the situation.

What lies ahead

Without a major counteroffensive to clear its flanks, Pokrovsk could eventually fall. Whether that happens within weeks or the city holds out for several more months hangs in the balance.

Matveev identifies the Poltavka – Nova Poltavka – Vozdvyzhenka axis as the most promising route for a Ukrainian counterattack. Such an operation might sever the Russian salient, alleviate pressure on Kostiantynivka, and restore supply access along the T‑0504 highway.

Pokrovsk also marks the southernmost point of Ukraine’s “fortress belt” in Donetsk Oblast—a chain of fortified cities that stretches north through Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka. Its loss would weaken defenses along the entire belt and allow Russian forces a strong foothold for further operations north and west.

Whether Ukraine has the manpower, mechanized reserves, and strategic support to mount a counterattack along that axis—and to hold the fortress belt—remains a critical question in the weeks ahead.

Australia’s Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, but reports differ on whether this is the first batch or the majority of the 49 pledged. Sky News and The Guardian describe the shipment as the first tranche, but then noted that “the majority” has been delivered. In contrast, Reuters reports that Ukraine has received most of the pledged Australian tanks, with the rest to follow.

Media differ over scale of Australian tank delivery to Ukraine

Australia’s retired Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine as part of a 245 million AUD (about $160 million) military aid package promised last October. Reuters reports that Canberra has already handed over most of the previously pledged 49 M1A1 Abrams, with the rest due in the coming months. Sky News Australia, however, states this is the first arrival, noting a nine-month delay since the tanks were pledged. The Guardian, citing the Australian Associated Press, also calls it the “first tranche,” but then adds:

“A majority of the tanks have been delivered and a final tranche will arrive in the coming months, but actual numbers have not been released.“

Australia’s Defense Minister Richard Marles said the Abrams tanks “will make a significant contribution” to Ukraine’s effort to repel Russia’s invasion. He emphasized their role in boosting Ukrainian firepower alongside other Western-supplied equipment. The country’s Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy added, “Australia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.”

Tank support part of larger Australian aid commitment

Australia’s Abrams tanks arrive in Ukraine alongside broader support totaling more than 1.5 billion AUD or $980 million since February 2022.

Canberra also plans to send a Wedgetail surveillance aircraft to Europe in August. The aircraft will help safeguard aid corridors delivering supplies into Ukraine. At the same time, Australia maintains export bans on alumina and aluminum ores to Russia. About 1,000 Russian individuals and entities remain under Australian sanctions.

Alongside military support, Australia is negotiating a non-binding security pact with Ukraine. More than two dozen nations have signed similar agreements with Kyiv. These arrangements focus on political and military cooperation but do not include formal defense guarantees.

A second bilateral deal aims to eliminate double taxation between the two countries. Officials expect it to encourage foreign investment in Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction.

As wars around the world have depleted American stockpiles, South Korea has become a key weapons supplier to US allies in Europe, CNN reports. 

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reveals that South Korea has become the world’s 10th largest arms exporter over the past five years.

The main importer of South Korean weapons is Poland, a country on NATO’s eastern flank that is actively preparing for war with Russia.

Recently, Warsaw finalized a deal to acquire a second batch of 180 South Korean tanks, part of a 2022 agreement that will ultimately allow Poland to expand its arsenal to nearly 1,000 armored vehicles.

The deal is valued at $6.7 billion and includes 80 support vehicles, ammunition, logistics, and training packages for the Polish army.

The agreement covers K2 main battle tanks, considered among the most powerful in the world. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration says it includes the tanks’ production by defense giant Hyundai Rotem and the establishment of a production line in Poland for the Polish variant, K2PL.

The overall framework deal is considered the largest in South Korea’s defense industry history. The new armored vehicles will partially replace Soviet-era tanks that Poland has sent to Ukraine for use in the war against Russia. Poland has transferred over 300 tanks, more than 350 infantry fighting vehicles, and armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.

As a NATO member bordering Ukraine, Poland is viewed as part of the Alliance’s first line of defense should Russian leader Vladimir Putin choose to expand his aggression beyond Ukraine.

According to a report by the Wilson Center, Poland has arguably become the most capable military power in Europe.

Russia is returning outdated T-62 tanks to service due to mounting equipment losses in its full-scale war against Ukraine and a shortage of modern military equipment, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) said on June 28.

"The key factors limiting the ability to produce modern armored vehicles in Russia are a lack of industrial capacity and a shortage of imported high-tech components," the agency said.

According to HUR, the restoration of T-62 tanks is primarily carried out at a facility in the village of Atamanovka in Russia's far-eastern Zabaykalsky Krai.

Russia transferred 21 T-62 tanks from its eastern military district to the European part of the country, the intel claimed.

HUR said that Russia’s stockpile of Soviet-era tanks from the 1970s is being depleted, while most T-62s are even in worse condition after decades of open-air storage without maintenance.

Some of these tanks can also be used at the front as stationary firing points to reinforce defensive positions.

"Due to a severe shortage of modern main battle tanks such as the T-90M and T-72B3M, the deployment of T-62s is seen as a temporary but necessary measure," the statement read.

Since the start of its full-scale war in February 2022, Russia has lost 10,970 tanks, Ukraine's General Staff said in its latest update on June 28.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these numbers.

Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones reportedly strike 4 fighter jets in Russia

Key developments on June 27: * Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones reportedly strike 4 fighter jets in Russia * North Korea deployed 20% of Kim’s elite ‘personal reserve’ to fight against Ukraine in Russia, Umerov says * Pro-Palestinian activists reportedly destroy military equipment intended for Ukraine * Zelensky signs decree to synchronize Russia sanctions

The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk