By Rostyslav Averchuk
Lviv (EFE).- The Ukrainian army continues to repel Russia’s attempts to advance toward Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, the most heated part of the frontline, as the city’s remaining civilians endure daily bombardments and a collapsing infrastructure.
The entrance of Russian troops into the city looked imminent in February, after months of pressure, they were only 2-3 kilometers away from Pokrovsk, threatening to cut the key supply lines into it.
However, Ukraine’s dogged resistance has reversed the tide, halting Russia’s momentum and reclaiming small but critical areas along the frontline.
A stabilized defense
Ukrainian forces continue systematic counter-attacks, which have allowed them to stabilize the situation in the last few months, Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst at the Information Resistance Group, told EFE.
According to Kovalenko, things have improved after Mykhailo Drapatyi’s appointment, a well-respected General in charge of the Ukrainian forces in the east of the country.
The coordination between the units is better now while Ukraine has also amassed significant forces to stop Russia from gaining yet another symbolic victory in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s counter-attacks in the village of Shevchenko, in particular, contributed to stalling Russian advances, after the Skala regiment pushed the enemy away in a surprise operation in early March.
Though Russia has regained some positions since the cost has been steep: 800 soldiers killed and 300 gravely wounded in Shevchenko alone, the regiment’s press service reported on Thursday.
Russia’s relentless pressure
Russia’s pressure near Pokrovsk remains high, with over a third of all clashes on the frontline occurring there, according to daily reports by Ukraine’s Army. The invading troops continue their attempt to encircle Pokrovsk from the east and west.
Stanislav Buniatov, a sergeant with the “Aidar” battalion and military blogger, said they are trying to regain ground in Kotlyne, located on an important supply line to Pokrovsk from the nearby Dnipro region, south-west.
“They are looking for ‘gaps’ between our brigades to collapse the defense line and break through to our rear,” he wrote in Telegram. Ukrainian forces, relying on drones and infantry, are countering these assaults, though Russia has been sending into battle more armored combat vehicles and experienced drone operators redeployed from Kursk.
Russia’s leadership appears determined to seize Pokrovsk and other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk, even if it takes several years of high losses in soldiers and equipment, the US-based Institute for the Study of War concluded in its recent overview.
Institute warned, that Ukraine needs to address recruitment and training challenges to fully halt Russia’s advance in Donetsk.
A city being destroyed
Getting into the city has become a deadly gamble, war photographer Kostiantyn Liberov told Ukrainian TV on Thursday. Russian drones, guided by fiber-optic cables to evade jamming, stalk the entrances into the city.
Artillery and airstrikes also batter the city daily, prompting local authorities to encourage evacuation. Of the 60,000 residents who lived there before Russia’s invasion in 2022, less than 3,000 remain, city head Sergiy Dobryak said on Thursday.
With municipal services all but collapsed, Ukrainian volunteers risk their lives to deliver food and supplies and evacuate survivors.
Many who stay are elderly, ill, or too traumatized to leave, wrote Yana Statna, a volunteer from Chernivtsi, on social media. Makeshift graves now scar once-tranquil yards, as the deceased are buried near their homes amid risks of venturing to the cemetery.
Statna recounted a harrowing tale of a woman who died in her unheated home. Her daughter, paralyzed by grief, spent eight days with the body until neighbors buried it in their yard after the frosts eased.
“Her daughter is now psychologically scarred and refuses to leave,” Statna said. “It’s a tragedy what Russia has done to this city, which still pulsed with life last spring,” she told EFE. “The world must know, and act.” EFE
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