US President Donald Trump’s 50-day pause ahead of possible secondary sanctions on Russia gifts the Kremlin a window to exploit the incremental gains of recent weeks in Ukraine’s east.

Last week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine, the largest barrage of war, which began in 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Kremlin was "making a point" with the attack, which appeared to be aimed at destroying Ukraine's supply of Western weapons.

Explosions rocked Kyiv and multiple other regions in the early hours of July 16, with Ukraine's Air Force issuing repeated warnings of drone and missile strikes across the country, including western o