Russia focuses 110,000 troops near Kyiv, says Ukraine
Russia focuses 110,000 troops near Kyiv, says Ukraine
Russia gathered 110,000 soldiers in the area of Pokrovsk to take over the strategically important city in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday.
The meaning of Pokrovsk
Syrskyi described the region around Pokrovsk as the "hottest point" along the 1,200 km long front line that runs through the east. Russian armed forces have been trying to conquer the city of Pokrovsk for almost a year and carry out a number of grueling offensive. Despite a significant superiority in relation to the number of troops and available weapons, Moscow has so far not been able to take the city.
strategic goals of Russia
Pokrovsk has strategic importance for Moscow. President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that it is his goal to conquer all eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, some of which hold his armed forces occupied. Kiev and his allies accuse Putin of hindering peace efforts to conquer more Ukrainian territory.
infrastructure and defense
Although Pokrovsk is not a big city, it is due to an important supply street and rail connection that connects it with other military locations in the area. Together with Kostiannivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the city forms the backbone of the Ukrainian defense in the part of the Donetsk region, which is still under the control of Kiev. Around 60,000 people lived in Pokrovsk before the war, but the majority have left the city in February 2022 since Russia's large -scale invasion.
economic effects
The last operated coking plant of Ukraine was in Pokrovsk, and many employees stayed in the region to maintain the company. After the coking plant was closed at the beginning of this year, it started to go.
Ukrainian defense strategies
of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a conflict monitor based in the USA, reported at the end of last year that the Ukrainian defense operations in Pokrovsk forced Russia to give up its original plan to conquer the city with a frontal attack. The Ukrainian troops have started to use drones as an integral part of their defense strategy and successfully integrate drone operators with their floor troops.
Russian troop movements
At the same time, Russia was unable to significantly increase the number of troops in the region because it tried to stop the surprising push of Ukrainian troops into their own territory in the Southwest Siberian region of Kursk. Syrskyi announced journalists last week that almost 63,000 Russian soldiers and around 7,000 North Korean soldiers were deducted from the Course Operation at a certain point in time.Current developments
"This made it possible for us to reduce the enemy's pressure on the main fronts and to group our troops again. And the conquest of Pokrovsk, which was announced in September 2024, has not yet taken place, which is partly thanks
Instead of attacking the city directly, the Russian troops then began to circle the city from south and northeast. According to the latest assessment of the ISW on Friday, Russia continued to carry attacks with small fire teams of one to two soldiers, sometimes on motorcycles, all -wheel drive vehicles and buggy.
Russian intentions and psychological warfare
In a statement published on Friday, Syrskyi said that Russia continued to try to break the administrative border of the Donetsk region. "You not only want to achieve this in order to achieve operational results, but above all for demonstrative reasons. To achieve a psychological effect: to set the notorious 'foot of the Russian soldier' there, to plant a flag and to announce a further pseudo-victory," he emphasized.
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