KYIV, Ukraine >> President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to Ukraine this weekend from a high-stakes diplomatic trip to the United States with limited new aid for his armed forces and mounting challenges on the battlefield.

While the Ukrainian leader was busy trying to rally support from the Biden administration and meeting with former President Donald Trump, Russian forces were pressing their grinding advance in Ukraine’s east, capturing more villages and closing in on a key Ukrainian stronghold.

They also continued their assault on Ukrainian cities, killing 10 in Sumy, in the northeast, in a strike on Saturday, while maintaining their attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and energy facilities. Ukraine, for its part, struck several Russian ammunition depots in an attempt to disrupt Moscow’s military logistics.

Here’s a closer look at the current situation on the battlefield:

Russia presses ahead in the east

For the past few months, Russia has concentrated its attacks on the area around Pokrovsk, a road and rail hub in eastern Ukraine, and Moscow’s forces are within about 5 miles of the city. The capture of Pokrovsk would seriously disrupt the Ukrainian army’s logistical lines in the surrounding Donetsk region.

After making quick progress toward Pokrovsk, Russia’s direct advance has slowed in recent weeks. Its troops have run up against a line of Ukrainian fortifications, strengthened by reinforcements sent by Kyiv, defending the city’s outskirts.

Ukrainian soldiers and military experts say they now expect a more protracted battle for Pokrovsk that could lead to the city’s being seized after a sustained bombing campaign, similar to Russia’s earlier assaults on cities such as Bakhmut and Avdiivka.

“We are going to see a siege of Pokrovsk as we have seen play out for a number of other cities, and I think it’s more than likely that Pokrovsk will end up being destroyed in that siege,” Michael Kofman, a military analyst, told the podcast War on the Rocks on Sunday.

For now, the Russian army has redirected some of its offensive efforts to the area south of Pokrovsk. Moscow’s troops have been trying to encircle the towns of Kurakhove and Vuhledar.

The Russian army may be trying a similar pincer movement around Kupiansk, a town in the northeast that Ukrainian forces recaptured in the fall of 2022. Its troops have recently seized a narrow spit of land to the south of Kupiansk, pushing toward the Oskil River.