Russia Presses Donetsk Cities, Nears Sloviansk; Kyiv Welcomes EU Push on Frozen Assets

Russian forces have recently stepped up their offensive in the cluster of industrial cities known as the "fortress belt" in the Donetsk region, seeking to increase pressure on key Ukrainian strongholds more than four and a half years into the full-scale war. The strategic cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk have long been targets as Moscow aims to fully control Donetsk Oblast.

On August 27, Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, speaking at an undisclosed location, said Russian troops had advanced to within four kilometers of Sloviansk's eastern outskirts. He claimed that forces had breached the first line of defense of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk fortified area in some sectors, with the front line now moving along a 160-kilometer stretch.

Data from the Ukrainian open-source mapping group Deep State showed the most intense fighting concentrated around Kostiantynivka, seen as a gateway to the rest of the Donbas. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War noted earlier this week that after failed attacks in the northeast, Russian forces had intensified efforts to advance on Sloviansk from the east and southeast. However, in its latest assessment, the institute questioned Gerasimov's claims of battlefield progress, suggesting they were aimed at building a narrative of a "total" Russian victory and were "disconnected from reality."

Beyond the front lines, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on August 28 welcomed a new initiative by four European Union member states to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's war effort. In a social media post, Sybiha said it was "fair and logical" to use Russian assets rather than only European taxpayers' money to cover additional defense costs, adding that "this discussion needs reason, not emotions." Ministerial officials from Spain, Sweden, Poland, and the Netherlands wrote to the European Commission on August 27, urging a revival of plans to tap more than 200 billion euros in Russian central bank assets frozen under EU sanctions.

Negotiations on the matter collapsed last year after Belgium vetoed the motion over liability concerns, while Russia has consistently described the move as "blatantly illegal." The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has yet to respond formally to the ministers' joint letter. Sybiha's remarks underscored Kyiv's urgent need for new funding, even as discussions within the EU on the legal use of the vast assets continue to face multiple legal and political obstacles.