Russia’s summer offensive in eastern Ukraine, launched back in May, is showing battlefield gains across multiple fronts. The playbook is to use probing and attacking tactics with small, fast-moving units as fighting escalates daily. With its advance, Russia has shifted the advantage on the battlefield. In May, Russian forces seized roughly 170 square miles, more than double April’s gains. Most gains came south of Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region, and near the Russian border in the northern Sumy region. Both sides have turned to new tactics using motorcycles and civilian cars to quickly cross open terrain. Ukraine, which relies heavily on drones to hold its positions, is using civilian vehicles to resupply its defensive lines, while Russia uses them in assaults. The fighting is intensifying even as cease-fire talks have mostly stalled. n18oc_world n18oc_crux