The city in eastern Ukraine has a strategic location as it is a highway and railway connection point and can facilitate the advance of Russian forces to the west. Ukraine has not confirmed his arrest. Today, Monday (12/1), Russia announced its control of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, after nearly a year of battles in the region. This information was published by Dmitry Peskov, Moscow spokesman, to Russian journalists.
According to Peskov, President Vladimir Putin was informed of the seizure of the city near Donetsk. Ukraine has not confirmed that Pokrovsk has been arrested.
The Russian military also reported that it had invaded the city of Vovchansk, neighboring Kharkiv and in northwestern Ukraine, but according to the German news agency (DPA), these claims could not be confirmed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Paris on Monday, confirmed that the clashes around Pokrovsk and Kharkiv were still intense.
Russia’s claim increases pressure on Ukraine amid negotiations on a ceasefire plan pushed by the United States. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet on Tuesday (11/2) in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin said on Telegram: “Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov informed Vladimir Putin of the liberation of the cities of Krasnoarmeysk (the Russian name for Pokrovsk) and Vovchansk.”
The Kremlin indicated that the report was sent to the Russian President on Sunday evening, but was published on Monday. The Russian Ministry of Defense also published photos showing, according to the ministry, Russian soldiers raising the flag in the square in the center of the city of Pokrovsk.
The battle for Pokrovsk has been going on for months. In September, hundreds of Russian soldiers managed to infiltrate the area.
Why is Pokrovsk important?
Pokrovsk, which is close to Donetsk, enjoys a strategic location as it is located at the crossroads of many highways and railways that lead to the last positions of Ukrainian forces in the east.
Capturing the city would make it impossible to supply Ukrainian forces at other points on the Eastern Front and would also open up to Russia the possibility of advancing to the west, where Ukrainian defenses are more dispersed, and to the north, where the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk are located.
If this happened, the Ukrainian army would be at risk of being surrounded by Russian forces.
If Ukraine loses the city of Pokrovsk, the city, according to military experts, will become the central base for Russian forces in the region, similar to what it already was for Ukraine. The Russians would then advance to a high-rise, densely populated area where thousands of soldiers could be housed.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military, including drone pilots, electronic warfare units and reconnaissance units, will have to retreat to forest areas.
Conflicts have devastated the city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region since May 2024. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov described taking control of this city as “an important step towards victory.”
A data analysis conducted by Agence France-Presse using data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in the United States indicates that Russian forces made the largest advance in Ukraine last month since November 2024.
FCL (AFP/dpa)