Ukrainian Forces Have Reclaimed Almost Half Of Pokrovsk In Past Month

Ukrainian forces have retaken 13 square kilometers in Pokrovsk, almost half the city's 29 square kilometers, since the middle of November. 

The reality is that much of what is left of the city is bombed out rubble and control, such as it is, tends to fleeting, leaving much of it a gray zone. But the significance is that Russian claims of having captured the city after over a year of concerted effort, appear to have failed with the Ukrainians not encircled and capable of counterattacking. JL

Lucy Pakhnyuk reports in the Kyiv Independent:

Ukraine has regained parts of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian forces have reclaimed about 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) of the city's total 29 square kilometers (11 square miles) since mid-November. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Syrski added that the number of Ukrainian troops deployed there is expected to increase. Earlier this week, Ukraine's Air Assault Forces said that neither Pokrovsk nor Myrnohrad is encircled.

Ukraine has regained part of Pokrovsk after having no troops left in the city earlier in the fall, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said during a Dec. 9 press briefing.

"The defense of Pokrovsk continues," Syrskyi said, noting that Ukrainian forces have reclaimed about 13 square kilometers (5 square miles) of the city's total 29 square kilometers (11 square miles) since mid-November. He added that the number of Ukrainian troops deployed there is expected to increase.

He also confirmed that Ukrainian units withdrew from positions 5 to 7 kilometers (3 to 4 miles) outside Pokrovsk, where Russian forces had begun to press forward. He said the troops could no longer be effectively held in those positions.

According to Syrskyi, Russia is increasing its troop concentration in the Pokrovsk sector, with more than 155,000 personnel now deployed. He said the area accounts for 40 to 50 percent of all KAB glide bombs Russia uses along the front.

He added that the neighboring city of Myrnohrad is not surrounded, though logistics have become more difficult.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's Air Assault Forces said on Dec. 5 that neither Pokrovsk nor Myrnohrad is encircled, countering Russian claims that Pokrovsk had been captured.

Pokrovsk, a key fortress city in Donetsk Oblast, has been one of the most fiercely contested areas of the front line, with Ukrainian forces holding off a major Russian assault for the past year.