The Russians are looking to strike a decisive blow before any negotiations. Zelensky talks about a “difficult” situation in a hot spot on the front
Ukrainian soldier in Povrovsk. Photo source: Wolfgang Schwan / AFP / Profimedia
Moscow's forces broke through Ukrainian defenses in a city Russia has been trying to capture for months.
The announcement was made on Sunday by the Ukrainian army itself. Nearly 200 Russian soldiers entered Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, a key frontline stronghold, according to Politico.
According to the source, the Kremlin is trying to maximize its power to influence any potential ceasefire negotiations with the offensive, as Ukraine has fought desperately to prevent Moscow's forces from entering Pokrovsk.
Although Russian soldiers have entered the city and the fighting is “very dynamic and intense”, Ukrainian troops are not encircled and have managed to recapture some areas, Kiev claims.
Fighting in the area is “very dynamic and intense,” but Ukrainian troops are not surrounded and have managed to recapture some areas around the city and stabilize the situation, according to Kiev.
“Difficult” situation in Pokrovsk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech on Sunday night that the situation in Pokrovsk was “difficult” and that the fighting was “fierce”, adding that success in the strategically located city was “extremely important”.
“There, near Pokrovsk, the Russians concentrated their main attack force, a significant number of enemy troops,” Zelenskiy said.
Despite this, the leader in Kiev insisted that Ukrainian troops were holding their main defensive lines in the Donetsk stronghold.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special economic envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, said on Friday that Kiev, Moscow and Washington were “quite close” to a ceasefire agreement, after Zelenskiy said freezing the war along the current front lines was “a good compromise”.
Kiev and its European allies want US President Donald Trump to pressure Vladimir Putin to abandon his maximalist stance of claiming large parts of the Donetsk region that his forces do not control and accept a ceasefire along the current front lines.
Trump on Putin: “That's what he should do instead of testing missiles”
Russia said over the weekend that it had successfully tested the Burevestnik nuclear missile and was preparing to use it in combat.
That prompted a backlash from Trump, who told reporters aboard Air Force One that the Kremlin leader should end the war in Ukraine instead of testing missiles, according to AFP.
“I don't think it's appropriate for Putin to say that. By the way, he should end the war. A war that was supposed to last a week is now in its fourth year soon. That's what he should be doing instead of testing missiles,” Trump said.
