kremlin Advances Near Pokrovsk Ahead of Potential US Talks
Teh Russian military has claimed full control of Pokrovsk, a strategically meaningful city in the Donetsk region, raising concerns about further advances and occurring as potential talks with the United States loom. The capture of Pokrovsk, considered Ukraine’s most significant military defeat since the fall of Avdiivka in February 2024, brings Russia closer to it’s stated goal of fully conquering the Donbass industrial region, though complete occupation of Donetsk remains a lengthy and costly undertaking.
The lack of substantial settlements west of Pokrovsk presents challenges for Ukrainian defense. Russian forces are now positioned to potentially concentrate on kramatorsk and Slovyansk, northeast of Pokrovsk, which have been fortified as a key defense line for years. Further expansion could target the Pavlohrad transport hub in the Dnipropetrovsk region, located 90 kilometers away, a critical supply route for Ukrainian troops near Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. The agricultural steppe landscape offers fewer natural defensive obstacles than the densely populated Donetsk mining region.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had hoped to demonstrate the effectiveness of Western arms deliveries by holding Pokrovsk, but critics argue resources were overextended in its defense, potentially weakening other defensive positions.
Moscow’s broader war aims include the annexation of luhansk,Donetsk,Zaporizhzhia,and Kherson – regions Russia declared as its own,alongside Crimea which was annexed in 2014 - though Russian forces do not currently fully control any of these territories. Ukrainian forces are facing significant pressure across multiple sectors of the front in the south and east, compounded by personnel shortages due to recruitment difficulties and desertion.
As autumn 2023, Russian forces have made slow, incremental gains along the eastern front, frequently enough incurring heavy losses. Following the capture of Pokrovsk, they employed a new tactic, deploying smaller infantry groups to bypass Ukrainian lines, avoiding large-scale attacks and the use of armored vehicles vulnerable to Ukrainian drone strikes.
Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) reported a special forces operation aimed at preventing the fall of Pokrovsk, but it ultimately failed to alter the outcome. Despite Pokrovsk’s capture,analysts do not anticipate immediate,dramatic shifts in the war’s trajectory,as both sides are engaged in a war of attrition,relying on the exhaustion of the opponent. Though, Ukraine’s prospects for success are currently considered less favorable than Russia’s.
(Source: ntv.de, jpe/dpa)
