Ukraine sends reinforcements as urban fighting rages in Pokrovsk

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Ukrainian service members watch while a tank fires toward Russian troops as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues in the industrial area of the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine, June 20, 2022. (Reuters

By Yuliia Dysa

KYIV  -  Ukraine has rushed to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern city of Pokrovsk as separate groups of Russian troops infiltrated the embattled city, Kyiv's military said on Monday. 

Against the backdrop of a failed push by U.S. President Donald Trump to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian troops have renewed their attempts to take the key logistical hub, Ukrainian officials say.

The 7th Rapid Response Unit of Ukraine's airborne troops said that the positions in the city have been strengthened in recent days as urban fighting continued.

RUSSIA SEEKS TO BLOCK LOGISTICS CORRIDORS

"The occupiers, who have entered the city, are not trying to take hold, but intend to advance further north," the unit said in a Facebook post. "In doing so, the enemy wants to disperse our defence forces and block land logistics corridors."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday said that Russia has concentrated its main strike force against Pokrovsk.  

"There is fierce fighting in the city and on the approaches to the city... Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to destroy the occupiers," he said.     

The Russian defence ministry said on Monday that its assault groups were trying to advance near the train station in the city.  

KEY CITY IN DEFENCE OF DONETSK

Russia has been trying to occupy Pokrovsk, a key part of Kyiv's defensive lines, for months, seeing it as a crucial point for its push to fully capture the Donetsk region. 

Zelenskiy, citing Ukrainian intelligence, told U.S. media outlet Axios that Russian President Vladimir Putin had privately claimed that Moscow would capture the entire Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk regions, by October 15. Reuters could not independently verify the claim. 

Over the past week, Ukrainian open-source mapping project Deep State expanded the grey area to the southwest of Pokrovsk and now shows around one-fifth of the city's west and south as contested area. 

Russia controls about 75% of the Donetsk region. About 6,600 square kilometres (2,548 square miles) is still under Ukraine's control.

 (Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Conor Humphries // REUTERS)