WASHINGTON, October 2. /TASS/. Russian forces in Donbass have been moving forward "at a pace not seen since" the start of the special military operation, Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Black Bird Group, an open source intelligence analysis collective based in Helsinki, has told The Washington Post.

By his estimation, the Russian army has liberated roughly 823 square kilometers (318 square miles) in August and September. The Russian army’s greatest advances "occurred from mid-August to mid-September, coinciding with the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region," Paroinen said.

The Ukrainian military told the daily it was unable to counter the improved Russian military tactics that "combine their advantages into powerful attacks."

On September 27, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the last large Ukrainian fortified area in Ugledar, near Donetsk, had been pincered by Russian forces.

Ugledar is situated roughly 60-70 km southwest of Donetsk. The city is a key logistics hub in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) that has remained under Kiev’s control until now. With the liberation of Ugledar, Russian forces will push the Ukrainian military farther away from the capital of the Donetsk People’s Republic, thus reducing the number of Kiev’s bombardments of Yelenovka and the outskirts of Volnovakha. In addition, this will increase pressure on Kiev’s Kurakhovo combat group and logistics points on the way to the city of Zaporozhye and will further enable Russian troops to press ahead with their offensive in that direction.