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Russian troops are inching ever close to Ukraine’s eastern city of Pokrovsk, a vital logistical hub for Kyiv’s outgunned and outnumbered forces, leading some analysts to question the wisdom of a Ukrainian lightning offensive on Russian soil that was intended to distract Moscow from its Donbas push.
The Ukrainian army remains in control of more than 1,000 square kilometres of land in Russia’s Kursk region, almost a month into a brazen cross-border incursion that offered Kyiv’s forces a much-needed morale boost – and dealt Russian President Vladimir Putin a humiliating blow.
Along eastern Ukraine’s sprawling front line, however, the Russian army has been notching up territorial gains, cutting deeper towards the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk province, a crucial supply and reinforcement hub for Ukraine’s frontline troops, and claiming the capture of a nearby village on Wednesday.
Moscow’s troops have moved to within 10 kilometres of the strategic city, the UK’s military intelligence reported on Monday as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded that the situation on the ground was “difficult”.
“Russian goals have not changed,” Zelensky told reporters, noting that the assault on Pokrovsk began long before Ukraine’s Kursk offensive. To some, his words amounted to an admission that Kyiv had failed to alter Moscow’s goals.