KIEV – Ukraine continued its gradual rearguard action during the past week, ceding ground in feet and inches to preserve the lives of its soldiers while managing to prevent a Russian breakthrough anywhere along its front line. Meanwhile, it began to receive its first F-16 fighter jets from Western allies, a new weapon that could help turn the balance of power in the skies, which is key to developments on the ground. It also continued to build an estimated 15 new battalions it is counting on to one day mount a counteroffensive that will roll back Russian conquests.

The fighting was fiercest in central Donetsk, the eastern province that has seen many of the bloodiest battles of this war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Pokrovsk was the focus of Russian efforts on August 1. “Pokrovsk, I would say for today, this is a priority for them … the largest number of personnel, the largest number of weapons and [glide bombs], everything they have, they are centring today in the Pokrovsky direction,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster. Pokrovsk lies 20km (12.4 miles) off the tip of a salient that Russian forces have created west of Avdiivka since seizing it in February. (Aljazeera)…[+]