As Putin & Trump meet, The Sun goes inside raging battle for key Ukraine city…& the tactics that could decide war's fate
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AS Putin and Trump prepare meet for crunch talks in Alaska, The Sun looks into the raging battle for a key Ukrainian city - and the key tactics which could decide the fate of the war.
Former intelligence officer and NATO planner Philip Ingram takes a deep dive into the ever-evolving warfare used to combat Putin's army in the brand new weekly series Battle Plans Exposed.
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Philip Ingram, former intelligence officer and NATO planner, will take an in-depth look at the battlefield as part of the weekly series
Credit: The Sun
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It comes as Putin and Trump meet in Alaska for crunch talks on Friday
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The new series will analyse the crucial battlefield tactics of the Russia-Ukraine war
Credit: Getty
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The first episode of the eye-opening show, which launches Friday, takes an in-depth look at the crucial city of Pokrovsk.
Ingram takes a comprehensive look at why vital drones used by Ukraine have helped them defend the city for such a long time.
Watch the brand new series here...
The through analysis also delves into how drones have become the "new weapon of war" on the front line - often equipped with incendiary devices or explosives.
Dubbed the "gateway to Donetsk" by Russian media, Pokrovsk serves as a major regional transport and rail hub and has immense strategic importance.
And as part of the new show, Ingram tells how Putin is suffering over 1,000 casualties per day to capture the city.
He also takes a look at the operational, strategic and tactical battles taking place between Russia and Ukraine.
The new series comes as Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are headed to Alaska - with the streets of Anchorage already lined with pro-Ukrainian civilians coming out in force against Russia's war.
Trump took to Truth Social shortly before he was due to takeoff from Washington to simply post: "HIGH STAKES!!!"
He has already described the summit as being like a chess game this week.
Putin's huge team started their journey across to the US earlier today as they sped through the shabby streets of Magadan.
The despot is expected to board a jet to Alaska soon and complete the nine-hour trip to the 49th state.
Trump will officially greet Putin with peace talks starting at around 8:30pm UK time.
Putin has continued to order barbaric attacks on Ukraine just hours before he is expected to be pressured into agreeing to a peace deal.
The US President has been adamant the bloodshed in Ukraine must end but a merciless Putin is yet to relent.
He continued to launch aerial bombs in Dnipropetrovsk region overnight with his troops edging forwards on the frontline.
Ukrainian forces have been forced to evacuate a town in Donetsk as the intense fighting rages on at the hands of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
Putin is expected to ask to keep hold of all the land he has managed to illegally seize since starting the conflict in February 2022.
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KHERSON, UKRAINE – AUGUST 11: A Ukrainian artillery squad fires on the left bank of the Dnipro River in kherson, Ukraine on August 11, 2025. The Kherson region is now the focus of peace negotiations between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Credit: Getty
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Putin's attacks have continued in the days leading to the talks with Trump
Credit: Getty
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Neighbourhoods are still being pummelled by Putin's strikes
Credit: Getty
The brazen tactics were paired with the Kremlin's "Doomsday Radio" which blurted out strange coded messages as the despot started his travels.
The station is known to send out strange messages during tense times for Russia with experts saying it is likely linked to the Kremlin's nuclear defence forces.
Today the signals NZHTI 88751 MAREL 5057 6881 and NZHTI 03649 STOKOTON 2751 2830 were broadcasted with no explanation.
The same mysterious codes were sounded only six weeks before the start of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv launched their own warning shots at Russia as they sent a final message to the Kremlin ahead of the talks.
They are believed to have downed Putin's £32 million Su-30SM fighter close to Ukrainian-controlled Snake Island in the Black Sea.
Russia was also hit by heavy Ukrainian bombardment on the Olya port in Russia's Astrakhan region.
The port has been used to import military goods for Putin's war machine from Iran via the Caspian Sea across the past three years.
Ukraine also exploded Syzran Oil Refinery with a major drone swarm which triggered deafening explosions and sparked two major blazes.
Russia's defence ministry said it had intercepted 55 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions overnight.
Friday's historic peace summit is being held at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
It will be the first meeting between the pair since 2019.
A notable absentee from the peace talks is Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump is expected to call up Kyiv's brave wartime leader alongside his European allies following the summit to discuss the progress made.
A second meeting is then due to be scheduled which could see Putin and Zelensky meet face-to-face for the first time since the war started.
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Demonstrators protest in Anchorage, Alaska ahead of Trump's meeting with Putin
Credit: Avalon.red
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