Deepstate, a Ukrainian map of the front line made by compiling data from open-source images, shows Russian troops in full control of a small southern part of the city, with most of the rest of it still depicted as a grey zone, fully controlled by neither force.
In a later report, Deepstate said Russian forces were still infiltrating southern parts of Pokrovsk, with a
significant number of infantry troops remaining inside.
A Ukrainian National Guard serviceman of 3rd brigade, Spartan, prepares a Penguin UAV for flight near the frontline in Pokrovsk this year.Credit: AP
But it said Ukrainian forces were identifying and eliminating groups of enemy troops, creating larger “grey zones”, with neither side in full control. Senior officers, it said, had been deployed in the city and were using specialised units to track down infiltrating forces.
The Russian Defence Ministry’s Zvezda news outlet said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops were beginning to lay down arms inside Pokrovsk, and released a video of two men it said were Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered. Reuters could not verify the video or determine where or when it was filmed.
Kyiv said this week it had landed a helicopter with a team of special forces in Pokrovsk in a mission to halt the Russian advance. Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday its troops had killed all 11 members of that Ukrainian special forces team.
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A Ukrainian military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that the special forces had been killed and said the operation was continuing.
Russia also said its troops had pushed back a Ukrainian unit’s attempt to break out of Hryshyne, north-west of Pokrovsk. Battles in that area could indicate Russian forces are close to cutting off Ukrainian supply lines to Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s military said the situation in Pokrovsk “remains difficult and dynamic” but the army had “managed to improve its tactical position in several quarters of the city”.
Russia wants to take the whole of the Donbas region, which comprises Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Ukraine still controls about 10 per cent of Donbas – an area of about 5000 square kilometres in western Donetsk.
Reuters
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