The Russian army is close to the largest conquest of a city in Ukraine in over two years, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times stressed.
Russia concentrates its resources on Pokrovsk, which is the gateway to the Donetsk Oblast and a railway hub. According to the New York Times, after more than a year of fighting, the city was reduced to ruins. Currently, approximately 1.3 thousand people live there. people, and before the invasion the number of inhabitants reached 60,000.
The Washington daily noted that the battle for Pokrovsk is an example of a strategic battle of attrition, in which both sides strive to deplete the opponent's military resources.
Ukrainian forces defending the city report intense fighting. On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that almost one third of the battles on the front line are taking place in this city. Half of Russian attacks using glide bombs are also directed at Pokrovsk. The Ukrainian authorities maintain that forces are retaking parts of the city and that Ukrainian special units are driving out the Russians.
By DeepState analytics project Russian troops have taken control of the southwestern outskirts of Pokrovsk in recent days. In some districts they are able to concentrate forces and create stable logistics routes. Fights with small groups of Russian soldiers are taking place throughout the city, according to DeepState data.
The Russians are pressing against the Ukrainians
Pokrovsk could potentially become the largest Russian-conquered city since the capture of Bakhmut in 2023. This is the last major obstacle preventing Russian troops from reaching Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the only large cities in the Donetsk Oblast still under Ukrainian control.
As highlighted by the New York Times, taking Pokrovsk could support the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is advancing on the battlefield and the war will become even worse if Ukraine does not give in to Moscow's demands. The daily noted that Ukraine is fighting to keep Pokrovsk, partly to counter this narrative.
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The Wall Street Journal wrote that capturing Pokrovsk would also strengthen the argument presented by Vladimir Putin to US President Donald Trump. Putin maintains that Russian victory is inevitable and sending weapons to Ukrainians makes no sense.
According to the New York Times, apart from the geopolitical message, the loss of Pokrovsk would have relatively little military significance for the Ukrainians. Russia presses on the city, suffering extremely high losses.
The Wall Street Journal noted that Russian forces have a numerical advantage over Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk; Russian drones also dominate the local airspace. Currently – according to the newspaper – most of the city remains the so-called a gray zone not controlled by the troops of either side. The daily reported that approximately 250-300 Russian soldiers entered the city in small groups.
According to military experts, the city could be conquered within weeks. However, George Barros of the Washington Institute for the Study of War believes that the fall of Pokrovsk is not imminent, given how long it took the Russians to conquer other urban areas. He added that continuing the fighting in Pokrovsk is a chance for Ukraine to bleed the Russians dry.
