Ukraine says Russia launches large mechanised assault in Pokrovsk
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Ukrainian servicemen firing a Multiple Launch Rocket System towards Russian troops, near the front-line town of Pokrovsk, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Dec 9.
PHOTO REUTERS
Follow topic:
- Russia launched a major mechanised assault on Pokrovsk, deploying around 30 vehicles in an attempt to break through Ukrainian defences.
- Ukrainian forces repelled the attack, exploiting poor weather conditions and deploying drones to target Russian troops and vehicles.
- The intensified fighting comes as the US pushes for a peace deal amid Russian advances in the Donbas region, including Myrnohrad.
AI generated
KYIV - Ukrainian forces were fending off an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s military said on Dec 10, a battle taking place as the US presses for an agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Russian troops have pushed forward in small infantry groups for months looking to capture the former logistics hub as a critical part of Moscow’s campaign to seize the entire industrial Donbas region.
Russia has claimed full control of Pokrovsk. Kyiv maintains that it holds the northern part of the city, where fierce urban battles have raged.
“The Russians used armoured vehicles, cars, and motorcycles. The convoys attempted to break through from the south to the northern part of the city,” Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said in a statement on the Dec 10 morning assault.
A source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps told Reuters that Russia had deployed around 30 vehicles, making it the largest such attack yet inside the city.
The source added that previously Russia had deployed just one or two vehicles to aid troop advances.
Burning wreckage
Russian forces were attempting to exploit poor weather conditions but had been pushed back, the unit said on Facebook.
Footage posted by the unit depicted heavy vehicles in snow and mud, as well as drone attacks on Russian troops and explosions and burning wreckage.
Capturing Pokrovsk would be Russia’s biggest prize in Ukraine in nearly two years.
Russia’s advances have added to pressure on Kyiv as Ukrainian officials try to push back on a US-backed proposal for a peace deal that was widely seen as favourable to Moscow.
In neighbouring Myrnohrad, where Russian forces are tightening an encirclement, an operation was under way to expand a logistics corridor, the 7th Corps added. REUTERS
