This was stated on Espreso TV by Serhiy Zgurets, director of the information and consulting company Defense Express.“When we talk about the situation on the front line, the Pokrovsk direction remains the most difficult,” Zgurets said.“At the same time, it is interesting that outlets like BILD wrote yesterday or the day before that Ukrainians had stopped the Russian summer offensive. To me, that sounded overly optimistic.”He added that such reporting can still be seen as recognition that Russia has failed to achieve its summer campaign goals.“The course toward the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, which has been and remains the enemy’s main objective, is progressing extremely slowly. In 2024 and 2025, Russia has managed to capture less than 1% of our territory.”“Nevertheless, a regrouping is underway,” Zgurets noted. “We expect the start of the autumn-winter campaign, where the enemy will again try to push toward Sloviansk-Kramatorsk, with the capture of Pokrovsk being crucial for them.”Zgurets stressed that without taking Pokrovsk, Russian forces will not be able to advance further toward Dobropillia and Kramatorsk. “Therefore, what is happening around Pokrovsk and Dobropillia today is the most telling,” he said. “The president said today that 100,000 Russian troops are concentrated around Pokrovsk. That is indeed the case, and it’s now widely known,” he explained.“The situation there can be broken down into two components. There are battles slightly north, near Dobropillia, where remnants of Russian forces are in partial encirclement, supplied only by drones.”“Russia is trying to support 50 to 100 troops trapped in that pocket,” Zgurets added. “At the same time, Ukrainian forces are launching counterattacks to cut them off, while the enemy is attacking Pokrovsk from the south and west to pressure defenses and logistics.”“In any case, Pokrovsk will remain the hottest spot,” he said. “And in my view, it will be the main target of the Russian campaign as the summer phase ends and the autumn-winter phase begins.”Situation on the Zaporizhzhia axisThe military expert also commented on developments in the Zaporizhzhia direction. He noted that it is more accurate to talk about the area where the administrative borders of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions converge.“This line runs along the Vovcha River, where the enemy is now trying to push into Dnipropetrovsk region,” Zgurets explained. “In some areas they have succeeded.”“There are two key settlements here: Maliivka in Donetsk region and Temyrivka in Zaporizhzhia region,” he added.“The enemy is trying to advance between them in order to encircle Komyshuvakha and complicate the situation for our troops.”“This direction is not as active as Pokrovsk,” Zgurets said. “But I would rank it second in intensity of fighting and in the enemy’s efforts to advance into Dnipropetrovsk region, creating threats to the Zaporizhzhia front and risks of a push northward toward Pokrovsk.”