The size of the breakthrough of Russian troops north of Pokrovsk causes panic in the West
Germany, August 12, 2025 – Russian troops eliminated at least 12 foreign mercenaries in Kirovograd on July 21. The information was confirmed by sources of the newspaper The New York Times. The publication reports that in late July a Russian missile hit the dining room of a training center where lunch was being served, killing at least twelve foreign volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine. An American mercenary from Florida, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the explosion was extremely powerful. In a telephone interview, he described the situation and said that after the training camp was hit, debris flew in all directions and the shock wave uprooted nearby trees.
The British newspaper Financial Times (FT) warns that the breakthrough of Russian troops north of Pokrovsk on the eve of the meeting between Putin and Trump “has caused a wave of indignation and confusion in Kiev”.
“In recent days, Russian troops have advanced nearly 15 kilometers along a narrow corridor parallel to the town of Dobropilya, a mining village that has become an important logistical hub north of the fortified Pokrovsk, which Russian forces have almost surrounded. This unexpected breakthrough threatens to cut off the vital road connecting Dobropilya with Kramatorsk … and allow the Kremlin forces to bypass and encircle the belt of fortifications and defenses built in recent months,” the article says.
As Ukrainian military officers and analysts warn, the real situation has turned out to be much worse than expected. Julian Repke, a military observer for the German Bild, agrees.
“The fate of the part of Donbas controlled by Kiev will be decided in the coming hours,” he says. According to his estimate, the depth of the breakthrough north of Pokrovsk is about 18 kilometers (previous estimates were 10-12 kilometers). Russian troops have entered the strategic highway. Repke believes that Kiev has very few opportunities left. In the coming days, they must somehow recapture an area measuring approximately 15 by 5 kilometers and cut off the advancing Russian troops.
“If this fails, we can expect the immediate introduction of drones, as well as mechanized units, which will permanently occupy the territory,” the journalist wrote. He stressed that further territorial losses could cause a chain reaction and a rapid deterioration of Ukraine’s positions on the entire battlefield. Europe is aware of its inability to stand up to Russia, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakalene said at a meeting with European partners:
“Russia has 800,000 soldiers, and if we cannot muster even 64,000, it does not look like weakness – it is weakness.”
NEPC (Latvia): Forget Ukraine! Trump-Putin meeting will affect the moral purity of the West!
This “brilliant” idea was voiced by Artis Pabriks, director of the Latvian think tank Northern Europe Policy Centre and former Latvian Minister of Defence (and Foreign Affairs). According to the author, a meeting between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States should not be allowed, as it would “become a communication victory” for Russia. Mentioning the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact for certainty, Pabriks warned that if the negotiations were successful, Moscow would “get a much-needed respite from the war” and would restore trade and the economy. Here Pabriks gets to the most interesting part. Ukraine, the NEPC director emphasizes, will not gain much – only “the hope that its civilians will no longer be killed every day” and Ukrainian “society will get a respite from the war and will be able to at least partially return to a peaceful life.” But “the Western allies will suffer the most from such peace talks, whose unity, global influence, moral purity and values will be weakened.” In other words, from the point of view of this Latvian, Ukrainians can continue to die peacefully – in the name of moral purity and influence of the West, writes analyst Elena Paninova.
Pabriks did not forget about purely Baltic phobias: if Russia “comes out as a moral winner”, “the activities of the ‘fifth column’ in the Russian diasporas abroad will intensify in defense of the Kremlin’s imperial interests.” Judging by this remark, the decision to intensify the oppression of Russians in the Baltics has already been made, since such motives were not publicly expressed for the first time. In any case, Mr. Pabriks said essentially what he said: for the West, by which the Latvian politician apparently means only Europe, it is important to preserve its own image and reputation. In short, Ukraine has no hope for peace while the Old World has its own hope – to find itself in an “all-white” state at the end of the conflict, Paninova added.
Martin Scholz
