Kiviselg said that while the average number of daily attacks in August so far has been around 158, over the past week, this has risen to 163 attacks per day.

"Over the course of August, the armed forces of the Russian Federation have managed to capture an additional approximately 330 square kilometers, which is roughly comparable to the volume seen in previous summer months. The offensive by the armed forces of the Russian Federation near Dobropillia last week has now been halted by the Ukrainian armed forces," he said at the Ministry of Defense's weekly press conference.

Pokrovsk continues to play an important role

Kiviselg said the main axis of the Russian attack continues to be Donetsk Oblast, specifically in the direction of Pokrovsk.

The colonel emphasized that the city of Pokrovsk still holds significant operational-level defensive importance for the Ukrainians. Fighting for the city and the surrounding settlements ties down a large number of Russian troops, allowing Ukraine to weaken the adversary in the area.

"In doing so, the Ukrainian armed forces are limiting the Russian Federation's ability to escalate attacks both to the north, where Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are located, and to the west. In addition, the defensive positions around Pokrovsk are preventing the Russian Federation's forces from penetrating deeper into Dnipropetrovsk Oblast," he said.

"Therefore, Pokrovsk continues to play an important role in the structure of the Ukrainian armed forces' defense in Donetsk Oblast. Still, even if it were to fall, Ukraine's defense is not collapsing, because new defensive lines have been built," Kiviselg added.

Attacks resumed after summits

Kiviselg said that during the period of peace negotiations, Russian naval and long-range aviation missile strikes had noticeably decreased, and long-range drone strikes had been carried out on a smaller scale. But after the talks ended, the Russians resumed these attacks with increased intensity.

"On the night of August 19, strategic bombers carried out a limited number of missile strikes against Ukraine using Kh-101 cruise missiles. On the night of August 21, the armed forces of the Russian Federation conducted another massive series of combined missile and long-range drone strikes. Cruise missiles Kh-101 were launched from strategic bombers, air-launched ballistic missiles 'Kinzhal' from fighter jets, 'Kalibr' cruise missiles from naval vessels, and ballistic missiles from 'Iskander' systems. In addition, a hypersonic cruise missile 'Tsirkon' was launched at Sumy Oblast," Kiviselg said.

He added that a significant number – 574 – of long-range drones were also launched.

Kiviselg gave examples of the targets that the armed forces of the Russian Federation have struck with missiles and drones over the past week.

"The Zaporizhzhia transformer factory; an oil depot in the Odesa region owned by SOCAR, the state oil company of Azerbaijan; an industrial area in Kharkiv; an oil refinery in Kremenchuk; and a gas compressor station in Lubny. In addition to industrial facilities and gas and oil processing and storage infrastructure, strikes have also been carried out against civilian targets such as terminals and a central facility of the Ukrainian postal company Nova Poshta in Usatove, a university library in Sumy, and a maternity hospital in Dobropillia," the colonel listed.

He said that, alongside targeting infrastructure, missile and air strikes continue against temporary troop concentrations and defensive positions of the Ukrainian armed forces.

"These positions are still being hit by glide bombs from air force bombers and ballistic missiles from the Iskander systems."

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