Kremlin forces continue to advance on the strategic Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, where fighting has been described as “exceptionally tough”.
Russia has been pressing hard in that section of the eastern frontline and has made slow but steady progress.
Ukraine’s top commander recently spent several days in the sector, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation was “extremely difficult”.
Some residents have evacuated the city in fear that it will fall to the Russians.
How big is Pokrovsk?
A road and rail hub, Pokrovsk had a pre-war population of around 60,000 people – tens of thousands of whom remain in the city.
Since 2014, when Ukraine lost control of the regional capital – the city of Donetsk – Pokrovsk has hosted an important technical university, the largest and oldest in the wider region.
A coal mine that is Ukraine’s largest producer of coking coal, which is used in its steel industry and was vital for its pre-war economy, is only a 20-minute drive to the west.
Why does Russia want Pokrovsk?
Control of the city, which the Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk”, would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front.
Its capture would also boost Russia’s campaign to capture the city of Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.
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Moscow says it has annexed Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region – a claim Kyiv rejects as illegal – and sees taking control of Pokrovsk as an important stepping stone to incorporating the entire region into Russia.
Additionally, it’s thought that squeezing the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the area would make it harder for them to hold pockets of territory either side of the city.
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What is happening with the defence of Pokrovsk?
Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said he recently visited the area.
“Fights are exceptionally tough. The enemy throws into battle everything that can move and advance, trying to break through our defences,” he said on social media.
President Zelenskyy said on Telegram on Thursday he was briefed by his top military on the situation during a meeting that also discussed “concrete defensive actions”.
He also said Kyiv would further strengthen its positions.
