Former Security Service of Ukraine employee Ivan Stupak assessed whether Russian troops can encircle the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region.
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Photo – REUTERS/VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI
Stupak In an interview with OBOZ.UA, he drew attention to the fact that in the case of Pokrovsk, the Russian Armed Forces are resorting to a different tactic, refusing to conduct frontal assaults, as was the case, for example, in Bakhmut, NBN reports.
According to him, the invaders are trying to bypass Pokrovsk and cut off Ukrainian logistics in order to create a large “cauldron” of approximately 1,000 square kilometers in the Donetsk region.
The enemy is currently advancing through the western outskirts of the city in order to disrupt communications with the Dnipropetrovsk region, and has taken fire control of the highway that connects Pokrovsk and Konstantinovka.
The former SBU employee noted that, as military personnel say, a distance of 2 kilometers to a populated area is already critical, since the occupiers can install special anti-tank installations, use drones with fiber optics, etc.
Stupak believes that Putin's army can and not to resort to storming the city, continuing to use the “strangulation” tactics and waiting until the Ukrainian Defense Forces are forced to leave Pokrovsk.
He added that the invaders could repeat the scenario with Ugledar: the Russians bypassed the city from three sides and created a situation in which the Ukrainian Armed Forces could no longer hold the settlement.
Earlier, the “Khortytsia” OSGV explained why the Russian Armed Forces are avoiding urban combat in Pokrovsk.
