The commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s military forces has confessed that his troops are undergoing some hard times putting Pokrovsk – a strategic town at the front line of the eastern front – against the encroachment of the Russian troops in numbers.
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian troops were repelling a multi-thousand-strong force; however, he refuted Russian reports that they were encircled or closed in.
He verified that elite special troops had been sent to secure key supply routes that, according to army sources, were all being fired at by Russians.
According to the defence ministry in Moscow, Ukrainian troops were surrendering and 11 of their special forces were killed after dropping by helicopter, denied by Kyiv.
In a social media post on Saturday, Gen Syrskyi announced that he was back in the front to listen to the latest reports of the military commanders on the ground in the eastern Donetsk region.
Syrskyi, in a brief video, is shown studying maps of the battlefield with other commanders, one of whom is the director of military intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov.
The time or place of recording of the footage is not clear.
Budanov was earlier reported by Ukrainian media to be in the area to personally monitor the operation by the special forces.
Their use of special forces indicates that the authorities in Kyiv are keen on attempting to retain the town, which Russia has been attempting to capture for over a year.
On Saturday, the 7th Rapid Response Corps of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian forces had secured a better tactical position in Pokrovsk – but the situation was still reportedly difficult and dynamic.
On Friday, the late Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that the defence of Pokrovsk was a priority.
It has increasingly been reported that Russian forces are on the offensive around the strategic town to the west of the Russian-controlled regional capital of Donetsk.
The pictures posted by the news agencies towards the end of Friday seem to be depicting a Ukrainian Black Hawk helicopter dropping approximately 10 forces near Pokrovsk, but the place and date of the shot could not be confirmed.
The Defence Ministry of Russia claimed to have foiled the attempt of Ukrainian military intelligence special forces in the north-west of the town and killed all 11 soldiers who landed via a helicopter.
DeepState, a Ukrainian open-source surveillance organization, approximates that approximately half of Pokrovsk is a so-called gray zone where none of the parties holds complete authority.
A member of the military in Donetsk informed the BBC that Ukrainian forces were not besieged but were being fired upon by Russians on their supply lines.
The US-based Institute of the Study of War reported that Ukrainian troops had made a slight improvement in recent northwestern counter-attacks near Pokrovsk, but that the town was primarily a grey zone of control.
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in full, and is now occupying roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which was occupied in 2014 by Moscow in an annexation.
Moscow would prefer Kyiv to surrender the Donetsk and the adjoining Luhansk republics of the Donbas peacefully, including those that it is still not occupying.
Pokrovsk is a major transport and supply center whose capture would open up the activities of the Russian forces to occupy the remaining part of the territory.
However, Kyiv also feels that by its capture, it will aid Russia in its efforts to convince the US that its military campaign is working out – and, thus, that the West should submit to its demands.
Washington has become more and more irritated by the inactivity of the Kremlin in terms of starting the peace talks, where US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on two of the biggest Russian oil producers and canceled plans to hold a summit with President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky has officially accepted the proposal made by Trump for a ceasefire, which would freeze the war along the existing front lines.
Putin is not willing to do it, as he wants his maximalist pre-invasion conditions, which Kyiv and its Western allies perceive as an actual surrender of Ukraine.
