kremlin Advances Near Pokrovsk Aheadโ of Potential US Talks
Teh Russian military has claimed full control of Pokrovsk, aโ strategicallyโ meaningful city in theโ Donetsk region, raising concerns about further advances and occurring as potentialโข talks withโฃ the United States loom. The capture of Pokrovsk, considered Ukraine’s most significantโ military defeat since the fall of Avdiivka in February 2024, brings โคRussia 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 โlack of substantial settlements west of โPokrovsk presents challenges for Ukrainian defense. Russian forces are now โขpositioned โto potentially โฃconcentrate on โคkramatorsk and Slovyansk, northeast of Pokrovsk, which have been โฃfortified as a key defense line for years. Further expansion could target the Pavlohrad transport hub in theโ Dnipropetrovsk region, located 90 kilometers away, โa critical โsupply route for Ukrainian troops near Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. The agricultural steppe landscape offers fewer natural defensive obstacles than the densely populated Donetsk miningโ region.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy โhad hoped โขto demonstrate the effectivenessโฃ of Westernโค arms deliveries byโ holding Pokrovsk, but critics argue resources were overextended in its defense, potentially weakening other defensive positions.
Moscow’s broader warโ aimsโ include โขthe annexation of โluhansk,Donetsk,Zaporizhzhia,and Kherson – regions Russia declared as its own,alongside Crimea which was annexed in 2014 โค- though Russian forces do not currently โfully control any of these territories. Ukrainian forces โare facing significant pressureโ across multiple sectors of the front in the south and east, compounded by โpersonnel shortages due to recruitment difficulties and desertion.
As autumn 2023, Russian forces have made slow,โฃ incremental gains along the eastern front, frequently enough incurring heavy losses. Following the capture of โคPokrovsk, they employed a new tactic, โคdeploying smaller infantry groups to bypassโข Ukrainian โคlines, avoiding large-scale โฃattacks โand the use of armored vehicles vulnerable to Ukrainian drone strikes.
Ukrainian militaryโฃ intelligence (HUR) โฃreported โขa โคspecial forces operationโข aimed atโฃ preventing the fall of Pokrovsk,โข but it ultimatelyโข failed to alter the outcome. Despite Pokrovsk’s capture,analysts do not anticipate โimmediate,dramatic shifts in theโ war’s trajectory,as both sides are engaged โฃinโ 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)
