Russia is suffering heavy losses, but in some places has “minor gains” in Ukraine’s east, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Aug. 1. Russian troops continue to concentrate their efforts in the Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, deploying the most experienced assault units, Syrskyi said after visiting the eastern front. Russia is trying to break through the defenses in the direction of Zhelanne, Novohrodivka, and Pokrovsk, which has become its main target, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. Fighting is ongoing in the Kupiansk sector, as well as near the canal on the …