Critical situation for Ukrainian troops around Pokrovsk

War in Ukraine

Critical situation for Ukrainian troops around Pokrovsk

Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops around the mining town of Pokrovsk has been going on for months. Now the situation for the remaining Ukrainians seems to be becoming more and more critical.

Despite relief attacks, the situation for Ukrainian troops around the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine has continued to deteriorate, according to a media report. “In Pokrovsk itself, as far as I know, there are 250 Russians, in fact the number is even higher, I think,” a deployed soldier told the influential Ukrainian news portal Ukrayinska Pravda. This was confirmed by statements from other soldiers. Some Ukrainian positions on maps no longer exist or are only occupied by wounded soldiers. The cause is a “catastrophic” shortage of soldiers and Russian drone dominance.

This also makes supplying isolated positions and evacuating the wounded problematic. For the most part, contact is only possible using radios. The situation in Pokrovsk also complicates logistics for the neighboring mining town of Myrnohrad. There, too, Russian units are already present in the northern part of the city. If Pokrovsk falls, a withdrawal from Myrnohrad would no longer be possible.

Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad have been fought over for months and are at risk of being surrounded. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj reported successful counterattacks in September. However, the reports of success were doubted from the start by Ukrainian military observers. Nevertheless, on Wednesday the Ukrainian military announced that it had recaptured the village of Kucheriv Yar north of Myrnohrad and that it had taken over 50 prisoners. Ukraine has been resisting a Russian invasion for more than three and a half years.