Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Hnatov said that Russian forces are attempting to create conditions for encirclement of the entire Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Speaking during a television marathon broadcast, Hnatov described Pokrovsk as "a relatively small town" but emphasized the strategic significance of ongoing Russian operations in the area.
"They are trying to create conditions to capture this relatively small town. A certain advantage in forces and means of the enemy has been created there. They have partially infiltrated the urban development, especially on the southern outskirts of this settlement," Hnatov said.
According to the General Staff chief, Russian forces are using this approach to establish a foothold for continuing their advance.
The Pokrovsk direction has remained one of the hottest sections of the front for months, according to monitoring portal DeepState. Russian forces have been actively pressing Ukrainian defense positions while attempting to accomplish one of their largest objectives in Donetsk Oblast — the capture of Pokrovsk.
Main Intelligence Directorate special units recently landed in the city where fighting continues and managed to break through a ground corridor there, according to earlier reports.
The Security Service of Ukraine's "Alpha" Center for Special Operations fighters have been conducting combat operations on the Pokrovsk direction for an extended period. The SBU reported that after the operational and combat situation deteriorated in this section of the front, the number of "Alpha" fighters there significantly increased.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi noted that Ukrainian soldiers in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration are holding back pressure from a many-thousand-strong Russian grouping that continues attempts to infiltrate residential areas and cut supply routes.
However, Syrskyi stressed there is no encirclement or blockade of the cities. According to him, a comprehensive operation to destroy Russian forces and push them out of Pokrovsk is currently underway.
Nevertheless, some military personnel interviewed by Hromadske question the possibility of clearing the city due to the enemy's advantage.
