No Russian control or Ukrainian troop encirclement in Pokrovsk, says Syrskyi
Russian troops are not in control of Pokrovsk and there is no operational encirclement of Ukrainian forces there, despite ongoing clashes with small infantry assault groups, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on social media.
He stressed that the Pokrovsk axis remains the enemy's main focus. The largest number of daily Russian assaults is recorded there, along with a significant portion of the enemy grouping operating in Ukraine. Russian troops, in particular, are trying to exploit adverse weather conditions.
The Defense Forces' main tasks remain "gradually taking control of designated areas, supporting and protecting existing logistics routes, and organizing additional ones."
Syrskyi said constant fighting with small enemy assault infantry groups continues on the approaches and directly in the urban development; lighter enemy equipment is destroyed less often.
"Ukraine's Defense Forces soldiers are doing everything to prevent enemy movement and entrenchment," the Ukrainian Armed Forces commander-in-chief emphasized, adding that there is no Russian control over Pokrovsk city or operational encirclement of the Defense Forces grouping.
According to him, searching for and destroying the enemy continues on the adjacent Ocheretyne axis as well. Over the past seven days, 7.4 square kilometers of Pokrovsk district in Donetsk Oblast have been cleared of enemy sabotage-reconnaissance groups through search-and-strike operations.
What is happening in Pokrovsk?
As the DeepState monitoring portal noted, for months the Pokrovsk axis has remained one of the hottest frontline sections, where Russian troops actively press Defense Forces positions and try to accomplish one of the largest tasks in Donetsk Oblast — capturing Pokrovsk.
Special units of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate air-dropped into the city where fighting continues and managed to create a ground corridor there.
For a long time, the Security Service of Ukraine's Alpha Special Operations Center has also been conducting combat operations on the Pokrovsk axis. The SBU reported that after the operational-combat situation escalated on this frontline section, the number of Alpha fighters there significantly increased.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that defenders in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration have to hold back pressure from a multi-thousand-strong Russian grouping that continues attempts to infiltrate residential areas and cut supply routes.
However, Syrskyi emphasized: there is no encirclement or blockade of the cities. According to him, a comprehensive operation to destroy Russian forces and push them out of Pokrovsk is currently underway.
Still, some soldiers hromadske spoke with question the possibility of clearing the city due to the enemy's superiority.