Pokrovsk not encircled but remains Russia’s main target, Syrskyi says
Russia has not taken control of Pokrovsk, but the area remains Russia’s primary offensive focus, with the highest number of daily assaults and a significant concentration of Russian forces, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Nov. 13.
Syrskyi said he recently traveled to the sector to assess the progress of earlier tasks and coordinate further actions with local commanders.
"There is no talk of Russian control over the city of Pokrovsk or the operational encirclement of the Defense Forces of Ukraine group," Syrskyi said in a post on Telegram.
"Stabilizing the situation depends largely on effective coordination between command bodies and units operating in the area," he said, adding that Moscow is also attempting to use difficult and foggy weather conditions to push forward.
Pokrovsk, with a pre-war population of around 60,000, has been a key target for Russia in recent months. Since this summer, Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups have entered the city but have so far failed to capture it.
Ukrainian forces reportedly continue to hold logistical routes, establish additional supply lines, and ensure the evacuation of wounded soldiers, Syrskyi said, adding fighting with Russian small assault infantry groups continues both on the approaches to the city and inside the urban area.
"The servicemen of the Defense Forces of Ukraine are doing everything to prevent the enemy from moving and entrenching," Syrskyi said.
Search-and-strike operations are also ongoing on the adjacent Ocheretyne direction. Syrskyi said that over the past seven days, Ukrainian forces cleared 7.4 square kilometers of Pokrovsk district of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
Pokrovsk’s road and rail links make it one of the key logistical points in eastern Ukraine. Its capture would give Russia an opportunity to push further into Donetsk Oblast, which the Kremlin has sought to fully occupy since the start of its war against Ukraine in 2014.
Russian troops have now encircled Pokrovsk on three sides, leaving only a roughly 15-kilometer (nine-mile) corridor for Ukrainian forces to bring in reinforcements and supplies, according to the Ukrainian open-source battlefield monitoring group DeepState.
Russia outnumbers Ukrainian troops eight-to-one in their offensive to capture Pokrovsk, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
