Russia’s advances in Ukraine have stalled everywhere but in Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub, battlefield maps show, as Ukrainian officials ordered civilians to evacuate the eastern Donetsk city on Monday.
While the Kremlin has significantly decreased its military activity in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions since August 16 amid Kyiv’s incursion of Russia’s Kursk region, President Vladimir Putin has doubled down on a Pokrovsk push at the expense of other front lines, The Economist reported Sunday, citing a Ukrainian government source.
The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions—which together comprise the Donbas—since Russia’s initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Pokrovsk is a key logistical hub for Ukrainian forces in the area.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email for comment.
War maps published Monday by the Institute for the Study of War ( ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, show that Russian forces recently made gains southeast of Pokrovsk and continued offensive operations toward the city.
The ISW said geolocated footage published on Sunday showing a Russian flag in southern Zavitne, located southeast of Pokrovsk, indicates that Russian forces recently seized Zavitne and Novozhelanne.
“Russian milbloggers reported that Russian forces are advancing toward Komyshivka and Ptychne (southeast of Pokrovsk and just southeast of the Novozhelanne-Komyshivka area) and that Ukrainian forces are withdrawing from these settlements to avoid tactical encirclement,” the think tank said.
“The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces attacked northeast of Pokrovsk near Vozdvyzhenka, Zelene Pole, Kalynove, and Myrolyubivka and southeast of Pokrovsk near Mykolaivka, Ptychne, Novohrodivka, Zavitne, and Skuchne,” the ISW added.
The Russian investigative site Agentstvo reported Monday that, over the past week, Putin’s forces have captured the largest amount of territory in Ukraine since the end of May, with most of the gains made in the Pokrovsk area.
Citing data from the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState, the publication said Russian troops have seized some 80 square kilometers [30 square miles] over the past week, with about 58 square kilometers [22 square miles] captured near Pokrovsk.
It added that Russian advances had either slowed down or stopped elsewhere in Ukraine.
Civilians were urgently ordered to evacuate from Pokrovsk on Monday amid a Russian advance.
“When our cities are within range of virtually any enemy weapon, the decision to evacuate is necessary and inevitable,” Donetsk regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
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