Natalya Nedyelko is a multimedia producer in Kyiv with RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
Russian forces have gained a foothold inside the Ukrainian-controlled city of Pokrovsk. It’s fraying Ukrainian defenses, stoking frustrations, and worrying experts, who say if the city falls, it will imperil a swath of Ukraine’s frontline defenses. "The situation is on the verge of critical."
Rights groups say Moscow is seeking to erase the Ukrainian identity and Russify the parts of Ukraine it holds. The Kremlin is set to take a step in that direction come September: Under a draft directive, the study of Ukrainian is to be removed from the curriculum at schools under Russian control.
Kyiv charges that Moscow has formed a “great occupation corps” of professionals and skilled and unskilled labor from Russia to put down roots in the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya – and to ensure they remain Russian.
