Russian forces are now just three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the outskirts of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after making advances Wednesday, according to Ukrainian mapping service DeepState. They have also destroyed or captured Ukrainian positions near the city, a Ukrainian army spokesperson said.
“The enemy attacked our fortifications in the Pokrovsk sector west of Vidrodzennia village, south of Novotroitske and, as a result of prolonged fighting, two of our positions were destroyed and one was lost,” Ukrainian military spokesperson Nazar Voloshyn said in televised comments.
Voloshyn added that fighting is ongoing on the outskirts of Shevchenkove, a village in Kharkiv region on Ukraine’s eastern front. Ukrainian military bloggers have reported that the village has fallen to the Russians, a claim that has not been confirmed by Ukrainian or Russian officials.
Data from DeepState, a Ukrainian monitoring group and mapping service, showed Russian soldiers just three kilometers from the southern outskirts of Pokrovsk Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian gas supply regulator Donetskoblgaz has warned that Pokrovsk will be cut off from gas supplies from Thursday due to the “worsening situation.”
“Due to significant damage to gas pipelines and constant hostile attacks, it is impossible to eliminate the consequences of hostilities on the gas distribution system and restore gas supply to customers,” Donetskoblgaz said in a statement Tuesday.
For months, Pokrovsk has been the site of some of the fiercest battles on the eastern front as Russia attempts to close in on the city. It lies around 11 miles from Ukraine’s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions and is a strategic target for Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Although not a major city – Pokrovsk had a population of around 60,000 before the war and many have now left since Russia’s full-scale invasion – it sits on a key supply road that connects it with military hubs. It forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that is still under Kyiv’s control. There are currently 11,000 people in Pokrovsk, according to local authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the embattled city in November and met troops defending the city. In a video posted on his social media, Zelensky is seen shaking hands with soldiers and presenting them with awards.
“This is a tense and challenging direction,” he said at the time. “It is only thanks to the strength of our warriors that the east has not been completely occupied by Russia. The enemy is confronted every day.”
The fall of Pokrovsk to Moscow’s forces would mark the largest setback for Ukraine in months and come as Ukraine has struggled to get off the backfoot while Russian troops pile severe pressure on the eastern front lines.
A looming Donald Trump presidency in the United States has raised the risk that military aid from Ukraine’s largest source could stop flowing as the conflict grinds well into its second year.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $725 million aid package to Ukraine Monday, as the Biden administration rushes to bolster Kyiv in its remaining time in office.
