Ukraine deploys reinforcements as city battles rage in Pokrovsk
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Artillerymen of the 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade firing an M114 self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops, near the front-line town of Pokrovsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Oct 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
- Ukraine reinforces Pokrovsk as Russian troops infiltrate the city aiming to advance north and disrupt logistics, according to Kyiv's military.
- Zelensky reports intense fighting in and around Pokrovsk, Russia's main target, while Russia claims its forces are advancing near the train station.
- Russia aims to capture Pokrovsk to control Donetsk, with one-fifth of the city now contested, as fighting continues.
AI generated
KYIV - Ukraine has rushed to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk as separate groups of Russian troops infiltrated the embattled city, Kyiv’s military said on Oct 27.
Against the backdrop of a failed push by US President Donald Trump to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian troops have renewed their attempts to take the key logistical hub, Ukrainian officials say.
The 7th Rapid Response Unit of Ukraine’s airborne troops said that the positions in the city have been strengthened in recent days as urban fighting continued.
“The occupiers, who have entered the city, are not trying to take hold, but intend to advance further north,” the unit said in a Facebook post.
“In doing so, the enemy wants to disperse our defence forces and block land logistics corridors.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct 26 said that Russia has concentrated its main strike force against Pokrovsk.
“There is fierce fighting in the city and on the approaches to the city... Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to destroy the occupiers,” he said.
The Russian defence ministry said on Oct 27 that its assault groups were trying to advance near the train station in the city.
Key city
Russia has been trying to occupy Pokrovsk, a key part of Kyiv’s defensive lines, for months, seeing it as a crucial point for its push to fully capture the Donetsk region.
Mr Zelensky, citing Ukrainian intelligence, told US media outlet Axios that Russian President Vladimir Putin had privately claimed that Moscow would capture the entire Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk regions, by Oct 15.
Reuters could not independently verify the claim.
Over the past week, Ukrainian open-source mapping project Deep State expanded the grey area to the south-west of Pokrovsk and now shows around one-fifth of the city’s west and south as contested area.
Russia controls about 75 per cent of the Donetsk region. About 6,600 square kilometres is still under Ukraine’s control. REUTERS
