“The Russian Federation pays the maximum price for trying a” summer offensive “. Fierce struggles in the hottest point of the Ukraine front

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski said on Friday that Ukrainian forces are experiencing intense struggles around Pokrovsk, east of the country, a logistics knot near which Russia announces the capture of some villages, Reuters reports.

During his Nocturn video speech, Zelenski said that General Oleksandr Sîrskîi, chief commander of the armed forces, said in a meeting of high officials that the situation around Pokrovsk is currently his focus in the war that started with the Russia's invasion in February 2022.

“All operational directions have been covered, with a special emphasis on Pokrovsk. It benefits from the most attention,” Zelenski said.

The Ukrainian forces, he said, “continue to act” in the border areas of the Sumî region, in the north of the country, where the Russian troops have gained land in recent weeks.

Sîrskîi, in a separate message on Telegram, described Pokrovsk and five other sectors as one of the most difficult operating theaters along the 1,000 km front.

“The Russian Federation pays the maximum price for trying a” summer offensive “,” Sîrskîi wrote.

The Russian forces have been trying for months to surround Pokrovsk, a road and railway knot with a population of about 60,000 inhabitants before the war, which was almost completely evacuated.

In May, Sîrski said that Kiev troops stabilized the situation around the city, which is the place where the only coal mine in Ukraine is located that produces cocsifiable coal for the country's steel industry.

The Ministry of Defense of Russia announced on Thursday the capture of two villages on both sides of Pokrovsk – Zvirove to the west and Novoekonomichne to the east.

A third village near the city, Novotoretske, was declared “released” by Moscow at the beginning of the week.

Ukrainian officials did not acknowledge that the villages were conquered by the Russians. The General Staff of the Ukrainian army said in an evening report that two of them, Zvirove and Novoekonomichne, were in areas where Russian troops were trying to penetrate the Ukrainian defense.

In the Sumî region, where the Russian troops are trying to determine what the Kremlin leader, Vladimir Putin, calls a “buffer zone”, the popular Ukrainian military blog said that the Kiev forces have recaptured a previous village.

Deeptate, which is based on reports from open sources to follow the presence of Russian forces, said that Ukrainian troops have restored control over the village of Kindivka. There was no official comment from any of the parties.