Russia is \u201crapidly approaching\u201d a key military hub in eastern Ukraine, a local official has said, as Moscow continues its advances despite Kyiv\u2019s surprise gains in its enemy\u2019s Kursk region. <\/p>\n
While Pokrovsk is not a major city \u2013 about 60,000 people lived there before the war and many have left since the start of the full-scale invasion \u2013 it serves as a key hub for the Ukrainian military thanks to its easy access to Kostiantynivka, another military center. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian troops use the road connecting the two to resupply the front lines and evacuate casualties toward Dnipro. <\/p>\n
Serhii Dobriak, head of the Pokrovsk city military administration, urged the community there to evacuate without delay. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe enemy is rapidly approaching the outskirts of Pokrovsk,\u201d he said in a Telegram post on Thursday. <\/p>\n
His warning is proof that Moscow has not relented in its attack on other parts of Ukraine, despite Kyiv\u2019s successful incursion across the border over the past week, a major development after two-and-a-half years of open conflict. <\/p>\n
Ukraine said it has captured more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory since the start of its surprise assault, forcing tens of thousands of Russians from their homes. <\/p>\n
On Friday, Ukraine officials said its military, already some 35 kilometers into Russian territory, is still advancing \u201cin some areas from 1 to 3 kilometers.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russia appears to have diverted several thousand troops from frontline fighting in occupied Ukraine in order to address the territorial loss in the Kursk region. <\/p>\n
But according to Dobriak, the enemy is \u201calmost right up close\u201d to Pokrovsk, Ukraine\u2019s key logistics and military hub that has become the focus of the Russian offensive in the Donetsk region. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are a bit more than 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) from the outskirts of Pokrovsk,\u201d he said, adding that the situation \u201cis only getting worse.\u201d <\/p>\n
For months, Russia has been stretching Ukrainian defenses across the entire front line, trying to capture as much territory as possible before new Ukrainian recruits and fresh batches of Western weapons start arriving on the battlefield. <\/p>\n
The gains made by Russia have been largely incremental \u2013 the front line has barely moved in the past few months \u2013 but the recent advance toward Pokrovsk has Ukraine and its allies worried. <\/p>\n
The city\u2019s capture would bring Russian President Vladimir Putin closer to his goal of seizing all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. <\/p>\n
Kostiantynivka is the southernmost part of a belt of four Ukrainian cities \u2013 with Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk \u2013 that form the backbone of Ukraine\u2019s defenses of the region, so any progress of Russian troops toward the city is significant. <\/p>\n
Officer of Ukraine\u2019s 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade Serhii Tsehotskyi told Ukrainian national broadcaster Suspilne on Friday that Ukraine\u2019s incursion into Russia had not led to a decrease in Moscow\u2019s attacks in the Donetsk region. <\/p>\n
He said Russian attempts to advance do not stop \u201cfor a minute,\u201d and \u201cthe battles continue around the clock.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTaking into consideration the events in the Kursk region, they (the Russian forces) are trying to do everything in order to be successful at least somewhere,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged Friday that \u201cintense fighting\u201d is taking place in the cities of Pokrovsk and Toretsk. <\/p>\n
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said Thursday that Russian forces are \u201cmaintaining their relatively high offensive tempo\u201d in Donetsk, \u201cdemonstrating that the Russian military command continues to prioritize advances in eastern Ukraine even as Ukraine is pressuring Russian forces within\u201d the Kursk region. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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