Russian forces have advanced to within 6 kilometers of Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, while conducting a turning maneuver from the south, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on 11 December.
According to geolocated footage from 10 December, Russian forces have made progress in western Novyi Trud and along the E50 highway south of Dachenske, in the Pokrovsk area, ISW reports.
Ukrainian Khortytsia Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Nazar Voloshyn said on 11 December that Russian forces attacked Ukrainian fortifications west of Novyi Trud, south of Novotroitske, and on the southwestern outskirts of Shevchenko. Ukrainian forces lost two positions during these attacks and are working to restore them, Voloshyn said.
A Ukrainian battalion commander in the Pokrovsk area described the situation as “critical,” ISW says, noting that each Russian battalion-sized formation receives about 200 fresh personnel monthly. The commander indicated that Russian forces are attacking Ukrainian positions up to 30 times per day with an artillery advantage.
Another Ukrainian brigade officer reported that Russian forces lost nearly 3,000 personnel in the Pokrovsk direction over two weeks.
“Continued Russian losses at this scale will impose a mounting cost on Russia’s already-strained force generation apparatus. Russian forces may well continue making gains towards Pokrovsk, but the losses they are taking to do so will temper their ability to translate these gains into more far-reaching offensive operations,” ISW says.
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