Russia has concentrated around 170,000 troops in Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk region, in an effort to seize the semi-captured city, Volodymy Zelenskiy said on Friday.
Addressing a press briefing, Zelenskiy said there are Russian troops in embattled Pokrovsk city. “Our guys are gradually destroying them. We must protect our personnel, as the occupiers are hiding in various buildings,” Zelenskiy said, while stressing that the situation was under control. Zelenskiy’s remarks about the importance of protecting troops could signal the plans to withdraw troops in the near future. According to DeepState monitoring group, Ukrainian troops
Zelenskiy said Pokrovsk was important for Russians and their troops have failed to capture Sumy and Kupiansk. Addressing the issue, chief of Ukraine’s Security Service Vasyl Malium said Russia has already lost tens of thousands of troops in Pokrovsk, despite Kremlin’s assurances a year and half ago that it would be able to seize the city within just a few days. Malium also denied reports that Ukrainian troops were encircled in Pokrovsk. Earlier this week, Zelenskiy said Russian troops were outnumbering Ukrainian troops eight-to-one in their offensive to capture Pokrovsk.
On Wednesday, the General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russian troops are scaling up infiltrations attempt near Pokrovsk and attempting to advance towards the north and northwest of the city.
Being a logistic hub, Pokrovsk has been the venue of desperate fights between Ukrainian and Russian troops to capture the city.
