Ukraine’s Zelensky praises frontline result, appears to be near city of Pokrovsk

KYIV - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Feb 13 praised a "good result" on the front line of Ukraine's nearly three-year-old war against Russia, but provided no details or location.

But in his nightly video address, the president praised the actions of the 425th separate assault regiment, appearing to indicate the action had taken place near the frontline city of Pokrovsk.

"There is a good result," Mr Zelensky said. "It would be improper to describe the geography. I won't make this political, but I want to congratulate the boys of the 425th separate assault regiment. Your strength clearly has meaning. Well done!"

Russian forces have been advancing towards Pokrovsk for weeks as part of their steady drive through eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, capturing a string of villages.

Russia's Defence Ministry on Feb 13 announced the capture of Vodiane Druhe, a village north-east of Pokrovsk.

Russian bloggers said the capture of Vodiane Druhe would enable Russian forces to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines.

But Mr Zelensky's upbeat comments follow several days of reports of intense fighting around the city and of Ukrainian efforts to push back Russian forces.

The 425th regiment cited by Mr Zelensky produced a video this week in which it said it had pushed Russian forces out of another village west of Pokrovsk.

A spokesman for Ukraine's Khortytsya, or eastern group of forces said heavy fighting was engulfing areas along a road running from Pokrovsk east to the city of Kostyantynivka, also under Ukrainian control.

"It is not entirely clear who is in control of the road or the villages along it," spokesman Viktor Trehubov told public broadcaster Suspilne.

"Fighting is going on right there with varied results. Ukrainian forces are regaining their positions in specific sectors, Russian troops are trying to dig in and hanging on to some small settlements."

At least one foreign blogger has reported Ukrainian counterattacks in the area, particularly south-east of Pokrovsk.

After failing in the initial weeks of the February 2022 invasion to advance on Kyiv, Russian forces have concentrated on capturing the Donbas, made up of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces control roughly 20 per cent of Ukraine's territory.

Much of the attention along the 1,000km front line has been focused in recent weeks on Pokrovsk, a logistics centre and site of Ukraine's only colliery producing coking coal, now closed as Russian troops have made gains. REUTERS