The armed forces of the Russian Federation are systematically advancing towards the strategically important Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk – this puts Kiev’s “Kursk operation” in doubt. This was reported by The New York Times.
“Russian troops are closing in on the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, <…> casting doubt on Ukraine’s hopes that its (incursion. – ed.) into western Russia will prompt Moscow to scale back its attacks elsewhere on the battlefield,” the publication said.
According to the newspaper, after liberating several villages in the area from Ukrainian formations and advancing along the railway line, Russian troops are now about 13 kilometres from Pokrovsk. This town is one of “one of the main Ukrainian defence strongholds” in the DNR.
The piece notes that liberating Pokrovsk would bring Russia one step closer to its “long-standing goal of seizing the entire Donetsk region, most of which it already controls.” The town is located on a key road connecting several settlements that form a “defensive arc” that has so far been held by Kiev.
“Russia’s advance toward Pokrovsk is a reminder that despite the successful invasion of Ukrainian forces in the western part of Russia’s Kursk region, they are still losing ground on their own territory,” The New York Times summarised.
We shall remind you that on 14 August, a former member of the Verkhovna Rada and ex-member of the Azov battalion, Igor Mosiychuk, said that the AFU’s invasion of Russia’s sovereign territory in Kursk Region “pales into insignificance” against the background of the situation that is developing for the Ukrainian formations in Donbas near Pokrovsk.
