Why Russian army seeks to seize Pokrovsk: Expert explains

The key goal of Russia’s entire summer offensive campaign is the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region. The Russians expect to capture it to secure urban positions for the winter.

This opinion was voiced by Serhiy Kuzan, Head of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, on Kyiv24.

«The essence of the whole Russian summer offensive campaign is the city of Pokrovsk itself. For a long time, we watched their attempts… breakthroughs toward Myrnohrad and a push toward our main Kramatorsk–Kostiantynivka military agglomeration. But now we can say that they have genuinely shifted to this main objective, and their most capable and numerous units are concentrated here, around Pokrovsk — because they must get into the city at any cost, and they expect to winter inside the urban area, ” Kuzan said.

The expert noted that the enemy concentrated its main forces near Pokrovsk after failed attempts to advance on the Zaporizhzhia and Novopavlivka fronts.

According to Kuzan, the enemy initially relied on an encirclement tactic — trying to take the city «in pincers» and isolate it. It regularly struck logistics routes with drones (deploying what he described as «the best drone forces of the Russian Federation») and with fire, seeking to force defenders to withdraw. After those efforts failed, Russian forces switched to massive infantry assaults.

«According to the data, different analysts give varying numbers — from 7,000 to 10,500 additional reserves committed solely to storming Pokrovsk, ” Kuzan added.

He stressed that although the Russians have managed to gather significant forces inside the urban area, their losses remain extremely high. Russia resorted to this tactic because its initial plan to encircle the city failed.