Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv's military said on Wednesday, as Moscow clamped down on the strategic logistics center that is home to a special Ukrainian coke mine. .
After months of accelerating advances towards Pokrovsk, Moscow's forces are now as close as three kilometers from the southern edge of the city, according to Ukraine's DeepState, which maps the front lines using open sources.
“As a result of a long conflict, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost. Currently, measures are being taken to restore positions,” said Nazar Voloshyn, Ukrainian military spokesman for against the east, in comments on television.
The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center for the Ukrainian military, would be the biggest military setback for Kyiv in months. The city also hosts a mine that is Ukraine's only domestic supplier of coking coal for its once large steel industry.
Ukraine commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyithat he visited a marine unit in the Pokrovsk region and noted the conditions faced by servicemen against “a superior enemy, especially, in terms of manpower.”
“Unconventional decisions must be made to increase the stability of our defenses and ensure more effective destruction of the residents,” he wrote on Facebook, without mentioning when the trip took place.
“The battles are extremely fierce. The residents of Russia are throwing all available forces forward, trying to break through the defenses of our soldiers.”
Months of intense fighting
Pokrovsk, located about 18 kilometers from the border of Ukraine's Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has been the site of some of the fiercest battles in Russia's 33-month-old full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In October and November, the Russian military advanced toward the city at the fastest rate since the early months of the war, analysts said. Ukraine says Russia has been sustaining some of its heaviest losses of the war so far.
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Both Ukraine and Russia are monitoring the growing likelihood of pushing for peace talks, with US President Donald Trump preparing to enter the office on January 20, after an immediate halt to the war and a quick end to the war.
Kyiv has urged its allies to get into the strongest position possible on the battlefield before any talks take place.
Russia, which Ukraine says has more than 70,000 troops on the Pokrovsk front, has advanced rapidly towards Shevchenko, a small town south of Pokrovsk, in recent weeks.
His forces are trying to seize the city and are sending in intelligence and sabotage groups, said spokesman Voloshyn. Ukraine is holding them back for now, he said.
The coal mine, which was still operating on December 6, lies 10 kilometers west of Pokrovsk, on the far side where Russian troops have been advancing.
