The Russians are ready to sacrifice tens of thousands of their soldiers for a political goal. Donetsk Oblast remains one of the hottest regions of Ukraine, where the Russians try almost daily to break through to the city of Pokrovsk, says Andrii, the commander of the battalion of the 32nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, Suspilne reports.

“Pokrovsk is located at one of the transport hubs. Accordingly, for them, this is a standard target — to partially cut off our logistics. This is a political goal,” the commander explains.

Russian troops use all possible forces and tricks to break through the Ukrainian defense, but unsuccessfully. According to the commander, they are even ready to “sacrifice tens of thousands of their soldiers just to occupy or capture something.”

Recently, the President of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief reported the destruction of sabotage groups in this direction. As Andrii notes, Russia’s tactics of using small sabotage groups of 2–3 people are not new. They try to “sneak past the positions of the Armed Forces units” to weaken the Ukrainian defense.

On 14 July, Dmytro Zhmailo, a Ukrainian expert and the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, said Kyiv troops managed to stop the first wave of the Russian summer offensive. Currently, Moscow is trying to fulfill its main objective, which is the complete capture of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Russia masses 100,000 troops to crush Ukraine’s defenders in Donetsk’s crucial battle

About 100,000 troops from the overall 700,000-strong Russian grouping are concentrated near the Kostiantynivka settlement in Donetsk Oblast. The Russians are receiving reinforcements for the start of the second wave of the offensive.

They paid the highest price for Ukraine’s freedom. British journalist Colin Freeman, in his book The Mad and the Brave, told the stories of foreign volunteers who joined Ukraine’s International Legion, writes The Telegraph.

Freeman compares the influx of volunteers who rushed to aid Ukraine in the early weeks of the all-out war to the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 when thousands from around the world fought fascism.

He portrays a variety of individuals, from veterans of the Syrian war against ISIS to adrenaline seekers and those fleeing heartbreak.

One striking story is that of British combat medic John Harding, who joined the Azov Battalion in 2018. He disproved Russian propaganda about “national extremists” and endured the horrors of the battle for Mariupol, the siege of Azovstal, and months of torture in captivity.

Another hero is Briton Christopher Perryman, a veteran of wars in Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia, who left behind a young son to fight the Russian aggressor.

Perryman believed he had no moral right to abandon millions of Ukrainian parents in distress, given his extensive military experience. Sadly, he was killed by artillery fire at the end of 2023.

After more than three years of war, the fates of foreign volunteers vary: some died, some cope with PTSD, and others continue fighting alongside Ukrainians.

Earlier, Euromaidan Press published a story about a former paramedic from Colombia, known as Miguel, who came to Ukraine intending to serve as a combat medic. However, due to the language barrier, he was assigned to the infantry.

Despite this, he never abandoned his mission. Every day on the front line, he saves the lives of his comrades. He is learning Ukrainian by singing Chervona Kalyna, the country’s patriotic anthem, and surviving tactics against Russian artillery. 

Ukrainian forces have destroyed a rare M-1991 multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) originating from North Korea, marking the first confirmed elimination of this type of weapon in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. The drone strike was carried out by soldiers of the Raid battalion, which shared footage of the operation. The attack reportedly occurred in the Novopavlivka sector in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.

Precision strike leads to massive detonation

Militarnyi notes that video footage published by the Raid battalion on Telegram shows FPV drone footage, targeting the MLRS. The strike hit one of the rockets inside the launcher pack, causing an unplanned launch that pierced the crew cabin. The impact also sparked a fire, which eventually destroyed the system.

North Korean M-1991: Cold War-era weapon in modern war

The M-1991 MLRS was introduced by North Korea’s military in the late 1980s. It features a 240 mm caliber and was designed as an attempt to replicate the Soviet “Uragan” system. The launcher carries 22 rockets and is mounted on a Chinese CQ25290 truck chassis. It requires a two-person crew along with a driver and commander.

Each rocket used by the M-1991 measures approximately 5.2 meters in length. While the original maximum range was around 60 kilometers, North Korean sources claimed in 2024 that it had been extended to 80 kilometers.