How long Ukraine can defend Pokrovsk: Expert explains
Ukrainian forces continue to hold back Russian troops in Pokrovsk, but mounting an active counteroffensive is difficult amid heavy shelling and widespread urban destruction.
Pokrovsk / © Associated Press / © Associated Press
Ukraine’s Defense Forces control up to half of the city, yet no improvement has been observed in this sector. Russian forces are dropping large numbers of aerial bombs, significantly complicating the defense of positions. Despite this, holding Pokrovsk remains strategically critical.
This was told by military expert Pavlo Narozhnyi, founder of the Reactive Post charity foundation.
He stressed that most of the fighting is concentrated in Pokrovsk and its surrounding areas, where a substantial portion of Russian forces has been amassed.
«As long as we hold Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, those 150,000 to 170,000 Russian troops cannot be deployed to other sections of the front, ” the expert said.
In this sense, holding the city serves as a strategic effort to fix Russian forces in place.
Narozhnyi noted that maintaining positions in Pokrovsk will be «extremely difficult» and explained the rationale behind a tactical withdrawal.
«The fact that we are pulling back there is absolutely logical. If the building we were defending has been destroyed and there is nothing left to hold onto, then a withdrawal becomes necessary, ” he said.
The expert also believes Ukraine is unlikely to launch counteroffensive actions in this direction to improve logistics or push Russian forces back. According to him, since this was not done at the initial stages, carrying out such operations later becomes significantly more difficult.