Ukraine says Russia launches large mechanized assault in Pokrovsk
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Russian service members drive tanks during training at the Kadamovsky range in the Rostov region, Russia Feb. 3, 2022. REUTERS/Sergey Pivovarov
By Yuliia Dysa
KYIV - Ukrainian forces were fending off an unusually large Russian mechanised attack inside the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv's military said on Wednesday, a battle taking place as the U.S. presses for an agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
Russian troops have pushed forward in small infantry groups for months looking to capture the former logistics hub as a critical part of Moscow's campaign to seize the entire industrial Donbas region.
Russia has claimed full control of Pokrovsk. Kyiv maintains that it holds the northern part of the city, where fierce urban battles have raged.
"The Russians used armoured vehicles, cars, and motorcycles. The convoys attempted to break through from the south to the northern part of the city," Ukraine's 7th Rapid Response Corps said in a statement on Wednesday morning's assault.
A source in the 7th Rapid Response Corps told Reuters that Russia had deployed around 30 vehicles, making it the largest such attack yet inside the city.
The source added that previously Russia had deployed just one or two vehicles to aid troop advances.
BURNING WRECKAGE IN SNOW AND MUD
Russian forces were attempting to exploit poor weather conditions but had been pushed back, the unit said on Facebook.
Footage posted by the unit depicted heavy vehicles in snow and mud, as well as drone attacks on Russian troops and explosions and burning wreckage.
Capturing Pokrovsk would be Russia's biggest prize in Ukraine in nearly two years.
Russia's advances have added to pressure on Kyiv as Ukrainian officials try to push back on a U.S.-backed proposal for a peace deal that was widely seen as favourable to Moscow.
In neighbouring Myrnohrad, where Russian forces are tightening an encirclement, an operation was underway to expand a logistics corridor, the 7th Corps added.
(Reporting by Yuliia DysaWriting by Dan PeleschukEditing by Peter Graff and Frances Kerry // REUTERS)
