ANALYSIS: 255 battles in a single day; Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in hell

34 documented Russian attacks

According to the same Pravda report, the Kostiantynivka area has seen 34 Russian attacks, concentrated around Kostiantynivka itself, as well as Illinivka and Ivanopillia. This town holds particular strategic importance: it is part of what several analysts call Ukraine’s “fortress belt”—the fortified ring that protects access to the major urban centers of the Donbas still under Kyiv’s control. Its fall would open a major logistical breach toward other urban centers still held by Ukraine, which explains why Moscow has been devoting so many military resources to it for months, despite repeated losses documented by the Ukrainian General Staff.

According to The Telegraph, Russia even claimed last week to have taken control of Kostiantynivka, an allegation firmly denied by Ukraine. President Zelensky responded with a touch of biting irony: “If Kostiantynivka were under Russian control, then perhaps Putin would have no problem meeting me there to find a diplomatic path to finally end this war.”

Zelensky’s retort is a model of political wit: it turns war propaganda into a rhetorical trap. If Moscow truly holds the city, let it prove it by welcoming a foreign leader there. Russia’s silence in the face of this challenge speaks volumes.

From northern Slobozhanshchyna to Huliaipole, widespread pressure

The General Staff’s report is not limited to these two hotspots: 10 engagements took place in the northern sector of Slobozhanshchyna and in the operational zone of Russia’s Kursk Oblast, with 45 Russian strikes recorded. The Lyman sector saw 24 breakthrough attempts, while Sloviansk endured the same number of assaults. Further south, Huliaipole recorded 14 separate attacks.

This geographic dispersion of Russian pressure illustrates a strategy of saturation: by multiplying the number of simultaneous attack points, Moscow seeks to prevent Ukraine from concentrating its reserves on a single sector, forcing it to spread its forces across a front stretching several hundred kilometers.

We often forget, in our focus on Pokrovsk, that this war is being fought along a front of almost continental length. Every sector deserves to be named, every city deserves to be counted, because it is the sum of these local acts of resistance that constitutes Ukraine’s national defense.

Mind-boggling figures

According to data compiled by Pravda, Russia carried out, in a single missile strike, a combined launch of 71 missiles, supplemented by 95 airstrikes dropping 267 guided bombs. Even more impressive: 9,556 kamikaze drones were deployed, resulting in a total of 3,110 strikes on Ukrainian towns and military positions.

When taken together, these figures illustrate the industrial scale of the Russian war machine, which continues to produce and deploy vast quantities of ammunition despite more than four years of Western sanctions and massive losses on the ground. This capacity for massive strikes, repeated almost daily, confirms that the Russian war economy remains fully operational, despite optimistic Western predictions made in the early months of the conflict that Moscow’s stockpiles would be quickly depleted.

I have said this time and again in my columns: these figures are not mere military statistics; they are direct indicators of Moscow’s determination to wage a war of attrition at any cost, regardless of the human toll inflicted on both sides.

Five groups of Russian personnel targeted by artillery and airstrikes

Far from limiting themselves to a defensive posture, Ukrainian forces have carried out active strikes against Russian positions: Ukrainian air forces, rocket forces, and artillery struck five groups of Russian personnel, while eight Russian drone ground control stations were also neutralized, according to data reported by Pravda. These targeted strikes against Russian drone operators reduce—albeit marginally—Moscow’s ability to maintain the pace of surveillance and guidance necessary for its own offensives in the sector.

This offensive capability—maintained alongside the colossal defensive effort required by 255 daily engagements—illustrates the operational resilience of Ukrainian forces after more than four years of continuous war, despite accumulated human and material fatigue.

This is perhaps the most admirable aspect of this army: it never simply accepts defeat. Even when overwhelmed by 255 simultaneous points of contact, it still finds ways to strike at Russian command and drone reconnaissance capabilities.

An intensity that has shown no sign of letting up for months

Previous reports, such as the one from Censor.net on July 1, documented 73 Russian attacks in a single day, with the same areas identified as the hottest spots: Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk, and Huliaipole. The increase to 255 engagements a week later demonstrates a clear intensification of Russian pressure, rather than a mere one-off fluctuation.

This continuity of hotspots over several weeks confirms that the Russian strategy remains focused on a limited number of priority targets, where Moscow appears willing to sustain considerable losses to achieve even marginal territorial gains.

This strategic consistency on the Russian side is worth emphasizing: this is not improvisation; it is a deliberate choice to concentrate efforts on Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, even at the cost of sacrificing a disproportionate number of Russian soldiers for what is often a minimal territorial gain.

Soldiers Holding Their Positions Without Respite

Behind every line of this military report are Ukrainian soldiers who, for weeks, have seen no real respite in the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka sectors. Units deployed in these areas must simultaneously fend off waves of infantry assaults, kamikaze drone strikes, and artillery barrages—often with reduced manpower due to months of cumulative casualties.

This sustained pressure explains why military analysts view these two sectors as a direct test of Ukraine’s ability to sustain a prolonged war of attrition without sufficient massive external reinforcements to permanently shift the local balance of power.

I often think of those soldiers whose names we will never know, holding the trenches around Pokrovsk while the world discusses billions in Ankara. Their endurance alone deserves more concrete recognition from the West than mere press releases.

A figure that must remain the focus of Western attention

While Western leaders negotiate aid packages worth tens of billions in Ankara, the true barometer of this war remains the daily tally of battles on the ground. The 255 skirmishes recorded on July 7 are not an anomaly; they are the norm in a war of attrition that continues, day after day, without any diplomatic summit having yet succeeded in reducing its intensity.

Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka: The Names to Remember

As long as these two names continue to dominate the daily reports from the Ukrainian General Staff, it will be impossible to claim that international diplomacy is progressing faster than the war itself on the ground.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist