Ukraine has revealed that Russia has assembled a large force of 110,000 troops as part of a military campaign to capture Pokrovsk, an important town in eastern Ukraine. Announcing this, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the most intense exchanges are currently taking place in the Pokrovsk area. Russia launched a military campaign to gain control of Pokrovsk a year ago, as part of the Russia-Ukraine war that began on February 24, 2022. Analysts say that despite the increase in Russian troop numbers and superior firepower, they have not been able to gain control of the town.
Capturing Pokrovsk is important for Russia. President Vladimir Putin has stated that gaining control of all areas of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine is a crucial objective. Although Russia has initiated talks with the United States regarding ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukraine and its Western supporters suspect that there has been no progress in the negotiations because Russia wants to increase its chances of controlling the desired territories.
Pokrovsk is not a large town. However, it serves as a main military base for Ukrainian forces facing Russian troops and is a primary route for supplying weapons and other goods to other military bases. Currently, the areas under Ukrainian control in Donetsk include Pokrovsk, Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk. Pokrovsk is also home to an important coal mine in Ukraine.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which analyzes the Russia-Ukraine war theater, said that Russia had launched powerful attacks to capture Pokrovsk about a year ago as well. They stated that the effort failed when Ukrainian forces began using drones and other weapons. Additionally, the ISW mentioned that Russia’s efforts to amass troops near Pokrovsk were hindered by sudden Ukrainian attacks across the regional line into Russia’s Kursk region in August of last year. Syrskyi said that Russia had moved about 63,000 troops stationed near Pokrovsk to confront Ukrainian forces in Kursk.
“This gave us an additional opportunity to face enemy pressure and gather more troops. Although the enemy announced in September 2024 that they had captured Pokrovsk, they have not yet achieved that – that’s the result of our operation in Kursk,” Syrskyi said. However, he revealed that Russia’s large force is now working to surround Pokrovsk.
