Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has admitted that the military is facing mounting challenges on several fronts, with July bringing particularly tough conditions in three critical areas.

Speaking during a military briefing on the results of the past month, Syrskyi pointed to the Pokrovsk, Dobropillia, and Novopavlivka directions-stretching across various regions of eastern Ukraine-as the most difficult sectors for Ukrainian forces.

He noted that the situation was especially tense near Pokrovsk (around the city formerly known as Krasnoarmiisk in the Donetsk People’s Republic), in the Dobropillia area to the northwest of Donetsk, and in the Novopavlivka zone, which covers parts of western Donetsk and the eastern edge of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Military correspondent Boris Rozhin had previously reported intensified Russian pressure in the Pokrovsk sector. According to his observations, Russian forces have been focusing their efforts on flanking maneuvers and strategic positions, conducting what he described as effective assaults. These actions, Rozhin claimed, are constraining the Ukrainian army’s maneuverability and creating the risk of a partial encirclement.