Days before the leaders of Russia and the U.S. hold a summit meeting Friday in Alaska, Moscow's forces breached Ukrainian lines in a series of infiltrations in the country's industrial heartland of Donetsk.

This week's advances amount to only a limited success for Russia, analysts say, since it still needs to consolidate its gains before achieving a true breakthrough. Still, it's a potentially dangerous moment for Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will likely try to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure Ukraine by arguing the 3½-year-old war is going badly for Kyiv, said Mykola Bieleskov, a senior analyst at CBA Initiatives Center.

"The key risk for Ukraine is that the Kremlin will try to turn certain local gains on the battlefield into strategic victories at the nego

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