Russian troops have destroyed or captured dozens of Ukrainian properties near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, the military in Kyiv said on Wednesday, as Moscow faced a transit hub that is home to Ukraine’s coking mine.
After months of accelerating the advance towards Pokrovsk, Moscow’s forces are now three kilometers from the southern edge of the city, according to Ukraine’s DeepState, which places the front lines using open sources.
“Due to the long-term conflict, two of our positions were destroyed, one was lost. Currently, steps are being taken to restore the positions,” said Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Ukrainian military on the eastern side, commenting on television.
The fall of Pokrovsk, a key transport hub for the Ukrainian military, would be the biggest military setback for Kyiv in months. The city also has a mine that is Ukraine’s only supplier of coal to its once giant steel industry.
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said he visited the naval unit in the Pokrovsk sector and noted the conditions the soldiers are facing against “a big enemy, especially, in terms of personnel.”
“Irregular decisions must be made to strengthen our defenses and ensure the effective destruction of the residents,” he wrote on Facebook, without specifying when the visit took place.
“The fighting is incredibly intense. The Russian occupiers are throwing all their forces forward, trying to break through our troops.”
Months of intense fighting
Pokrovsk, about 18 kilometers from the border of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, has for months been the site of some of the fiercest fighting in Russia’s 33-month all-out invasion of Ukraine.
In October and November, Russian troops advanced toward the city at the fastest pace since the first months of the war, analysts said. Ukraine says that Russia has been sustaining heavy losses of the war so far.
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Both Ukraine and Russia are eyeing the growing prospect of a push for peace talks, as US president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on Jan. 20, which has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an immediate end to the war.
Kyiv has urged its allies to put it in the strongest possible position on the battlefield before any negotiations take place.
Russia, which Ukraine says has more than 70,000 troops in front of Pokrovsk, has rapidly advanced toward Shevchenko, a town south of Pokrovsk, in recent weeks.
The soldiers there are trying to find a place in the area and they are sending teams to investigate and destroy the property, said the spokesperson of the department Voloshyn. Ukraine is still holding them back for now, he added.
The coal mine, which was still operating as of December 6, is 10 kilometers west of Pokrovsk, on the far side where Russian troops have been advancing.
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