The Ukrainian Armed Forces Have Made A Breakthrough In The Donetsk Region

• 21.08.2026, 9:58

Ukrainian forces have advanced south of Dobropillya.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian Defense Forces advanced in the Donetsk region—south of Dobropillya.

This was reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

“Geolocated video footage published on August 20 indicates that Ukrainian forces have recently advanced in the northwestern part of Vodyanske (south of Dobropillya),” " U.S. analysts report.

According to them, Russian forces are also claiming to have advanced along this section of the front, but there is no confirmation of these claims yet.

Despite this, it is known for certain that the Russian army has recently advanced southwest of Pokrovsk.

According to ISW data, over the past two days, Russian invaders have continued offensive operations in the north of the Kharkiv region. However, they were unable to make any headway—the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out new successful counterattacks.

“Russian forces attacked in the Borova and Kupiansk directions on August 20, when Ukrainian forces counterattacked north of Kupiansk, but the ISW found no evidence of Russian troop advances,” analysts note.

The ISW points out that the Russian Federation’s army is increasing the number of strikes in the Kupiansk sector. This may indicate that the enemy is preparing for future ground attacks.

“Russian forces also continue to use AI-altered video footage to make false claims about their advances,” warn U.S. analysts.