Ukraine's military denies reports that Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad encircled by Russian forces
Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces said on Dec. 5 that neither Pokrovsk nor its sister city Myrnohrad are encircled, stressing that defense units are expanding logistics routes and maintaining control over key positions in the area.
Commander Yevhen Lasiichuk of the 7th Corps told the national marathon newscast that in Pokrovsk, the line of contact currently runs "along the railway," with Ukrainian troops retaining full control over the northern part of the city.
He noted that Ukrainian units in central Pokrovsk are actively holding back Russian attempts to advance.
"The situation is more complicated in the southern part," Lasiichuk said, adding that Russian forces are attempting to bypass urban fighting by maneuvering around the flanks.
“As of today, there is no encirclement or blockade of Pokrovsk.”
Logistical access to neighboring Myrnohrad has become more difficult, he acknowledged, but movement into the city continues.
“Units continue to enter the settlement and carry out their tasks,” Lasiichuk said.
The fortress city of Pokrovsk has long been one of the most hotly contested areas of the front line, with Ukrainian troops holding off a major Russian assault for a year.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have closed in, leaving Ukraine in control of an increasingly smaller pocket of the town.
In a nod to the political significance of taking the city, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Dec. 1 of the city's capture, after receiving a report on the latest battlefield situation from his top general, Valery Gerasimov.
While strikes on both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been recorded in the northern low-density residential neighborhoods of Pokrovsk, the front-line contact zone and proper territorial control is difficult to establish.
