Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited troops near the eastern front line on Tuesday, amid growing fears that Kyiv’s military may have to abandon the strategic city of Pokrovsk to escape encirclement by Russia’s advancing invasion force.
Moscow claimed its troops were advancing in Pokrovsk – a logistics hub for Ukraine’s military since fighting began in the Donetsk region in 2014 – and also around Kupiansk, another small city about 200km to the north in Kharkiv province.
Ukraine denies that it is doomed to defeat in either area, but acknowledges that it is under severe pressure from Russia’s much bigger army and its vast arsenal of explosive drones that make reinforcement and resupply missions – as well as any potential retreat – extremely dangerous.
The fall of Pokrovsk would be a particularly heavy blow to Ukraine, and would open up a path for Russia towards Kramatorsk and Slovyansk – the two largest cities still under Kyiv’s control in Donetsk region. The capture of all of Donetsk has been a Kremlin priority since it launched all-out war on its pro-western neighbour in February 2022.
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Mr Zelenskiy said he met troops fighting in the Pokrovsk and nearby Dobropillia sectors, presented them with state awards and discussed the situation on the front line and the needs of the units fighting there.
“I am grateful to the warriors for defending Ukraine and our territorial integrity. This is our country, this is our east, and we will certainly do our utmost to keep it Ukrainian,” he said.
Ukraine said it landed special forces troops by Blackhawk helicopter in the Pokrovsk area in recent days to bolster its positions and hold back Russian forces which, according to Mr Zelenskiy, have an eight-to-one numerical advantage in the sector.
Maps released by Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState on Tuesday suggested that Russian forces had moved deeper into Pokrovsk but that neither side had firm control of a city that has been devastated by months of heavy shelling and air strikes.
Concern is growing in Ukraine not only over the possible fall of Pokrovsk, but the danger that a significant number of troops could be surrounded if Russia manages to close two pincers of attack that appear to be tightening around Pokrovsk and the neighbouring mining town of Myrnohrad.
“That the city continued to hold out until November is, in itself, an achievement. Still, the rapid loss of positions in summer/fall 2024, which left logistics vulnerable and exposed the flanks, combined with manpower shortages, largely dictated the outcome now unfolding,” wrote a respected military analyst and former Ukrainian soldier who uses the name Tatarigami_UA on social media.
“Overall ... the ultimate result of the defence will depend on whether the [Ukrainian] command will decide to reinforce the city or conduct an organised withdrawal to better positions,” he added.
Russia’s defence ministry said its troops were tightening their grip on districts of Pokrovsk and around Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk, which was occupied in the first days of the full-scale war and liberated in a counterattack in September 2022. Like Pokrovsk, the small city has suffered heavy shelling and bombing and most of its residents have fled.
Ukrainian forces say they still control Kupiansk and drone units are trying to destroy Russian supply lines around the city on the Oskil river. Mr Zelenskiy claims that plans have been drawn up to expel Russian units from the area.
“Based on my assessment, this seems possible, as the situation for the Ukrainians [in Kupiansk] appears far more salvageable than in Pokrovsk,” said Tatarigami_UA. “Ukraine can, at the very least, stabilise the situation there.”
