No clear goal in Pokrovsk — ISW says Russia trying to encircle and storm towns simultaneously

Russian forces are pursuing multiple attacks in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad without prioritizing a single decisive objective, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The scattered effort involves both attempts to encircle the Ukrainian-held area and continued assaults inside the towns themselves. 

Russian troops push into Pokrovsk but fail to encircle

ISW wrote on 18 November that Russian forces are struggling to focus on a single decisive objective in the Pokrovsk direction. Geolocated footage published on 18 November and reportedly filmed two days earlier showed Russian units advancing inside northeastern Pokrovsk. However, this move did not contribute meaningfully to the broader encirclement effort.

Ukrainian forces, particularly the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Airborne Assault Forces, reported on 18 November that Russian units are trying to infiltrate Myrnohrad from the north via Krasnyi Lyman village. This indicates that troops positioned north of Myrnohrad are not pushing westward to link up and close the encirclement, but are instead attacking southward into the town. A spokesperson for a Ukrainian brigade in the Pokrovsk direction added that Russian troops are working to sever Ukrainian ground lines of communication into Myrnohrad from the northwest and west.

Ukraine counters northern thrusts

Russian units "likely struggling to complete the encirclement in part due to the threat that Ukrainian forces are posing to Russia’s northern shoulder of the pocket." Elements of Russia’s 51st Combined Arms Army — formerly the 1st Donetsk People’s Republic Army Corps, now under the Southern Military District — are operating north of Myrnohrad but have not advanced far enough to close the northeastern part of the encirclement.

A tactical penetration carried out by the 51st CAA in the Dobropillia area back in August created a gap that Ukrainian forces are now exploiting. This has enabled them to threaten Russian rear positions northeast of Pokrovsk, placing additional pressure on the Russian northern grouping.

In response, Russian military command may be shifting responsibility for completing the encirclement to units of the 2nd Combined Arms Army from the Central Military District. These forces are deployed south and southwest of Pokrovsk and might be expected to push in from the western flank.