Ukrainians Clear Central Pokrovsk As Drones Hit Kremlin Troop, Ammo Positions

Depending on which media one follows, Pokrovsk has either fallen - with Russians strolling around the rubble in the open - or it remains the center of intense combat with no decisive outcome yet in sight. 

The latter scenario appears to this observer to be the more realistic of the two. Russian troops appear to continue their small unit forays but are unable to establish anything remotely resembling control. Ukrainian forces have been able to retain some areas of the city and neighboring Myrnohrad while inflicting casualties as well as damage on Russian concentrations. The most likely assessment is that this unsettled state of affairs will continue for some time, possibly months. JL

Valentyna Romanenko and Roman Petrenko report in Ukraine Pravda:

The center of Pokrovsk  has been cleared of Russian troops including areas around the railway station, Pokrovsk Pedagogical College, and Sobornyi Square. Ukrainian forces are holding positions in the city centre, firefights continue, and "the enemy is failing to secure a foothold. Attempts by the Russians to move into the northern part of the city across the railway results in heavy losses." And in one night, SOF drones destroyed Russian troop concentration and ammunition storage centers in Shakhove, Sontsivka, Rybynske and Dokuchaievsk, wiping out Russian marines, armored troops and UAV units.

The Air Assault Forces (AAF) have reported that the centre of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, one of the most challenging points on the front line, has been cleared of Russian troops.

Source: 7th Corps of Ukrainian Air Assault Forces

Details: Russian forces were reportedly repelled from the areas around the railway station, Pokrovsk Pedagogical College, and Sobornyi Square, which are all situated in the city centre.

This made it possible to block Russia's attempts to gather forces there.

Quote: "The defense forces are preventing the enemy from approaching and executing search-and-strike missions to eliminate Russian troops in Pokrovsk.

Our forces are holding positions in the city centre, firefights continue, and the enemy is failing to secure a foothold.

This has prevented Russian troops from gathering strength and putting more pressure on the northern part of the city. Any attempt by the enemy to move into the northern part of the city across the railway results in heavy losses."

 

Details: The Armed Forces of Ukraine report that since early November, 388 Russian soldiers have been killed in Pokrovsk.

 

Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SOF) also used mid-range drones to deliver a series of attacks on Russian forces advancing in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration in Donetsk Oblast on the night of 22-23 November.

Details: An important Russian position was destroyed in the city of Pokrovsk. This elevated position on an industrial facility had given Russian forces a significant tactical advantage on the battlefield. Russian snipers had used it to keep a wide area under fire advantage.

The facility had also served as a point for concentration of personnel. A successful strike by a mid-range loitering munition destroyed the key position and wiped out Russian manpower.

Several more Russian positions and personnel were destroyed or hit in temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk Oblast.

 

Ukrainian forces identified and destroyed an assembly area that belonged to Russian assault groups in the village of Shakhove in the temporarily occupied part of the Pokrovsk district. Soldiers from Russia's 336th Separate Guards Marine Brigade were inside at the moment of the strike. This brigade has been tasked with encircling Pokrovsk from the north. Several drones operated by the SOF successfully reached their targets.

SOF drones struck a temporary deployment point and an ammunition storage point used by attack UAV crews from the 6th Guards Tank Regiment of the 90th Guards Tank Division in the temporarily occupied village of Sontsivka. Russian manpower was wiped out.

A Russian ammunition storage point was destroyed in the town of Dokuchaievsk. The SOF says it had been used for storing, distributing and dispatching ammunition for the Russian group of troops advancing on Pokrovsk.

SOF drones successfully hit a logistics unit from the Vostok (East) group of troops of the Russian Armed Forces in the village of Rybynske. The Russians had converted former industrial and warehouse premises into a military site, building engineering and fortification structures and maintaining regular truck activity. After priority targets were identified, SOF delivered successful drone strikes on multiple facilities.

Ukrainska Pravda has established that all these events took place on the night of 22-23 November.

Background: The 7th Corps of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces reported that the centre of Pokrovsk, one of the most challenging points on the front lines, had been cleared of Russian troops.