As the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, scheduled for August 15, in Alaska, approaches, the Russian army has achieved a breakthrough, threatening the last two urban centers in the Donetsk region that Ukraine still controls. On the evening of August 11, the pro-Ukrainian interactive map website deepstatemap.live reported a double advance, shaped like a pair of rabbit ears, stretching over 17 kilometers. This was likely conducted one or two days earlier by Russian infantry, moving toward the villages of Zolotyi Kolodiaz and Hruzke.

Given the lack of footage confirming the Russian advance, experts have turned to the real-time map produced by NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), which indicated abnormal levels of ground heat west of Nove Shakhove, at Novyi Donbas (east of Dobropillia), as well as at Bilytske (southeast of Dobropillia) and Rodynske. Such signals most often indicate active clashes in an area. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War concluded that Russian armed forces had likely taken control of nine localities in the immediate vicinity of Dobropillia.

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