Russian troops are making a concerted push in eastern Ukraine and have gained a foothold in the strategic hub of Pokrovsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says. Moscow's soldiers outnumber Kyiv's 8-1 in the area and Ukraine cannot match that, Zelensky added while insisting Russia had not yet achieved the planned result. Russia has been trying to capture Pokrovsk for two years. The key supply and transport hub provides supplies and reinforcements to the eastern front - and it would get Moscow closer to occupying the entirety of the Donetsk region.
It would also put towns of the heavily fortified fortress belt - Kramatorsk, Slovyansk, Kostyantynivka, and Druzhkivka - within easier reach of Moscow. Zelensky said drone imagery showed that around 200 Russian soldiers were inside Pokrovsk. Describing the situation as difficult, he said earlier that there was widespread fierce fighting and sabotage groups had entered the town. However, he rejected reports by Russia's Chief of General Staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, that Ukrainian troops had been completely surrounded.
In an update on Tuesday, Russia's defense ministry said its forces had encircled Ukrainian troops around the main railway station and cleared the city's Troyanda district of Ukrainian forces. One soldier from Ukraine's 155th Brigade, Artem Pribylnov, rejected the notion that Ukrainian troops had been encircled in a cauldron at Pokrovsk. According to Capt Hryhoriy Shapoval, spokesperson of Ukraine's East operational group, 79 attacks had been repelled near Pokrovsk since Monday - almost a third of the total 218 assaults recorded across the entire front line.
He said that Russian troops had concentrated a large number of troops and equipment near Pokrovsk and that they were using armored vehicles to cover their infantry, making it hard to stop them. The situation in and around Pokrovsk exemplifies the high cost of shifting the front line forward in the ongoing war, which is entering its fifth year, with Moscow's troops currently occupying about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Zelensky has called for stable financial support from European allies, stressing the need for Ukraine to sustain its defense capabilities against Russian aggression.
It would also put towns of the heavily fortified fortress belt - Kramatorsk, Slovyansk, Kostyantynivka, and Druzhkivka - within easier reach of Moscow. Zelensky said drone imagery showed that around 200 Russian soldiers were inside Pokrovsk. Describing the situation as difficult, he said earlier that there was widespread fierce fighting and sabotage groups had entered the town. However, he rejected reports by Russia's Chief of General Staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, that Ukrainian troops had been completely surrounded.
In an update on Tuesday, Russia's defense ministry said its forces had encircled Ukrainian troops around the main railway station and cleared the city's Troyanda district of Ukrainian forces. One soldier from Ukraine's 155th Brigade, Artem Pribylnov, rejected the notion that Ukrainian troops had been encircled in a cauldron at Pokrovsk. According to Capt Hryhoriy Shapoval, spokesperson of Ukraine's East operational group, 79 attacks had been repelled near Pokrovsk since Monday - almost a third of the total 218 assaults recorded across the entire front line.
He said that Russian troops had concentrated a large number of troops and equipment near Pokrovsk and that they were using armored vehicles to cover their infantry, making it hard to stop them. The situation in and around Pokrovsk exemplifies the high cost of shifting the front line forward in the ongoing war, which is entering its fifth year, with Moscow's troops currently occupying about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Zelensky has called for stable financial support from European allies, stressing the need for Ukraine to sustain its defense capabilities against Russian aggression.
