About 200 Russian personnel have penetrated inside the front-line city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Oct. 26.
The long-embattled Pokrovsk remains one of the most difficult areas of the front, with Russia stepping up offensive operations and concentrating large numbers of personnel around the city in an attempt to force a Ukrainian withdrawal.
By infiltrating Ukrainian positions in small infantry groups, Russia has accumulated around 200 troops within Pokrovsk, the General Staff reported. These personnel are engaging in small arms and drone clashes with Ukrainian troops in the city.
Ukraine’s counter-sabotage measures are currently preventing Russian infiltrators from advancing and consolidating their positions in Pokrovsk, but combat in the city is “highly dynamic and intense,” the military said.
Ukrainian forces are reportedly attempting to stabilize the situation via “comprehensive measures.”
On Oct. 27, Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Airborne Assault Forces reported that grouping of Russian troops had “managed to sneak into the city and accumulate in different parts,” but denied they had managed to gain a foothold in any part of Pokrovsk.
Analysis: Pokrovsk on the brink as Russian troops, drones infiltrate deeper into Ukraine’s fortress city
At first, the pictures went viral for another reason. Two Ukrainian civilians were shot dead and another injured on the roadside, the victims of another Russian war crime that was as everyday as it was horrific. Ordinary, peaceful residents of the city of Pokrovsk — the very people Russia claims to be “liberating” in its war of destruction in the Donbas, who held on to life in their homes for a year after their city became a war zone — snuffed out in an instant. But beyond the shock and anger
Russian soldiers have previously breached Pokrovsk on a smaller scale. In July, Russian troops entered the southwestern part of the city during Moscow’s summer offensive, though the incursion was repelled by Ukrainian forces.
Since then, small Russian sabotage and infantry groups have attempted to breach the city via “total infiltration tactics,” though Ukraine has reported repelling these attempts.
In October, video footage emerged of Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk killing several unarmed civilians. The murder took place near the railway line that runs through central Pokrovsk.
Less than a day after the video emerged, the 7th Corps of Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces acknowledged the Russian penetration to the railway, saying a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group had breached Ukrainian lines.
Russia has suffered heavy losses in its assault on Pokrovsk. The General Staff reported 1,756 Russian personnel losses and 75 pieces of destroyed equipment in the past 10 days alone.
Ukraine retakes 2 villages in Donetsk Oblast near Dobropillia, military says
Ukrainian forces liberated two villages in eastern Donetsk Oblast about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of embattled Pokrovsk, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Oct. 26.
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