Pokrovsk- Ukraine's vital eastern town in Russian sights despite Zelenskys Kursk border incursion

Pokrovsk: Ukraine's vital eastern town in Russian sights

The town of Pokrovsk plays a crucial role as a logistics hub used by Ukrainian forces in the eastern region of Donbas. It is home to a key railway station, and it is located at the intersection of several important roads.

Meanwhile Zelensky has it’s best forces at the Kursk border capturing beaver dams for “tiktok”

Ukraine had hoped that by seizing territory in Russia's Kursk region it would be able to divert Russian troops away from their eastern advance, but that has not happened. If anything the Russian offensive on Pokrovsk, and Toretsk further to the north east, has intensified.

"Pokrovsk is a very important hub, a centre of defence. If we lose Pokrovsk, the entire front line will crumble," military expert Mykhaylo Zhyrokhov warned.

Ukraine relies on the town's rail and road infrastructure to provide supplies and reinforcements to its troops on the eastern front line, as well as to evacuate the wounded.

Losing Pokrovsk to Russian forces would mean these vital military tasks would become far more complicated.

It would also increase the risk to other strategically important towns, such as Chasiv Yar, which sits atop commanding heights giving control over the wider area.

www.bbc.com...

The U.S. better hurry up and send Zelensky another $20 billion.
Remember, our great leaders pledged to help him for "as long as it takes".

a reply to: ColeYounger2

Might only cost a mere $125 million to start WWIII.

The United States has introduced another new package of military aid to Ukraine, reported to be worth around $125 million, and this time it includes more munitions for HIMARS systems, at a moment Kiev has acknowledged using the missile system inside Russian territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described in press statement at the end of this week that this additional assistance is "provided under a drawdown from Department of Defense stocks, includes: counter-unmanned aerial systems equipment and munitions" as well as "additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)."

www.zerohedge.com...

Personally, I am not clutching at my pearls because of the Kursk invasion. Two countries are in open warfare with each other, in what world is it not ok to charge across your enemies borders and bring the fight to them?? I don't offer this from a perspective of wishing either side victory, but more as just a standard act during a time of war. I found the feigned Russian outrage over this incursion a bit rich as they are successfully demolishing their enemy. How would you not expect them to make whatever maneuvers necessary to fight back?

Frankly it looks like Russia got cocky and believed that there were some imaginary rules where those losing in battle just have to accept it and not be creative in their survival. Obviously I am no fan of the Ukraine government, and their societies' fondness for NAZI war criminals is most certainly not something I am a fan of. But all is fair in love and war right? If one side is about to win, why isn't it fair for them to make a last ditch effort to turn the tides??

It will not succeed. I suspect Once they get the line up to Pokrovsk and stage their defensive posture prior to the siege they will simply flank the Kursk region and close the border trapping whatever is left of Ukraine forces. They may close the flank and initiate the Pokrovsk siege at the same time.

We should certainly keep an eye out for additional mobilizations by Russia. If they do, it will probably signal the beginning of a dual siege and flank strategy on the border and front within weeks.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

The land Ukraine is taking near Kursk is not even close to as tactically important as the land they stand to lose by diverting forces. If it was important for air or long range strikes it would have been defended already. So far most of what I have seen are small to medium towns with no huge underlying infrastructure like rail depots/air bases or fuel depots or missile sites/radars...

So they send the second string to grind with them in the north and meanwhile they are close to collapsing the whole Donbass front...which in turn may send the whole house of cards tumbling.

It appears to be a calculated play on Russia's part not sending more to defend Kursk...even if their outrage over it is nonsense and ridiculous.

Good for you, Imhere... I'm glad you're taking pleasure in your country occupying more of someone else's territory. I can do that too... watch!

Tell me, how's the defense of your own country going? Remember that 'provocation' that was going to be ended right away? They were at 30 towns a week ago, now the Ukrainians hold more than 80.

And why call it Kursk any more? I hear the Ukrainians renamed it to Seym. They have a new plaque on the town hall with the new name, and everything.

a reply to: Mahogani
What good is it to take Kursk if it cost you the richest lands your country had? 3 of the 4 richest areas of Ukraine are in the south east of the country...and what does Kursk have...

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: Mahogani
What good is it to take Kursk if it cost you the richest lands your country had? 3 of the 4 richest areas of Ukraine are in the south east of the country...and what does Kursk have...

Yeah, but they haven't lost anything yet. This article, and what I have been reading separately, is about what the Russians have their sights on. But it's neither here, nor there, whether they will succeed. They could be just trying to spread propaganda of where they will attack next to draw away Ukrainian forces from Russia. Who ever tells the enemy where they will strike next?

All of this is hypothetical... because it hasn't happened yet.

What did happen for sure is Ukraine taking dozens of Russian settlements -- villages, towns and cities -- and are continuing nearly unobstructed. Considering how we would expect a world's major force's response to their country being invaded to go, Russia's has been minimal so far.

Every Western nation would have dealt with an incursion into their country immediately and with immense force. Russia can't, by all appearances. Ukraine dealt a huge blow to Russia, and to Putin in particular. Even if they just retreat back to Ukraine, the damage has been done. High political figures have already called for Putin's removal. That happened after the incursion.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: Mahogani
What good is it to take Kursk if it cost you the richest lands your country had? 3 of the 4 richest areas of Ukraine are in the south east of the country...and what does Kursk have...

Correct. The trade off here is pretty retarded.


Who knows, maybe the Kursk incursion was launched because Russia currently has the foothold by north of Kharkiv. Resulting after the other failed Belgorod incursion previously.

Thinking now to divert Russian forces from there to Kursk. Since they’re closer to each other, than let’s say Donbass.

Which even now, Russia isn’t flinching there. Or in the south.





It’s clear Zelensky has limited man power. And protecting vital networks and natural resources in the east is dire.

It was well documented for a while, that once the Avdiivka stronghold falls, that Russia can potentially be on path afterwards to break through Zelensky’s defensive lines and catch momentum going forward.

Which it did.

Losing Pokrovsk to Russian forces would mean these vital military tasks would become far more complicated.

It would also increase the risk to other strategically important towns, such as Chasiv Yar, which sits atop commanding heights giving control over the wider area.

"If they cut our logistics, then Chasiv Yar will be doomed," says analyst Pavlo Narozhny. "It will be a matter of time before we'll have to pull out of it because we won't be able to supply our fighters there."

Pokrovsk has always played the role of an important railway centre serving the needs of Ukraine's heavily industrialised east.

In fact, it grew around a station built in the late 19th Century.

It became known as the coal-mining capital of Ukraine after the capture in 2014 of Donetsk, the main city of Donbas, which stands for "the Donetsk coal basin".

Pokrovsk is home to Ukraine's largest producer of coking coal. It is vital for metallurgy, which, in turn, plays a key role in the country's economy.

Metals were Ukraine's main export product before Russia's full-scale invasion two and a half years ago, accounting for 23% of total goods exports. Their export value has now shrunk to a quarter of that level as the country's industry has been ravaged by the war.

a reply to: Imhere

Meanwhile Zelensky has it’s best forces at the Kursk border capturing beaver dams

You really are trying to down play the counter invasion by Ukraine aren't you? It must be very painful for all the Mad Vlad supporters seeing their little hero being shown as an incompetent 'solider' and just the mad serial poisoner he is!! The smell of desperation in the latest Putin supporters posts reek!!

www.express.co.uk...

Russia 'Losing more than it can recruit!' Scores of Russian soldiers killed in Kursk 'humilation'
Vladimir Putin has suffered yet another humiliating blow with Russian forces losing 1,000 casualties daily since the Kursk operation.

Russian forces are suffering a staggering 1,000 daily troop deaths following Ukraine's surprise incursion into the western Kursk region, it has been claimed.

More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers bombarded the Russian border earlier this month and ever since, Vladimir Putin has seen his forces suffer huge losses as Kyiv continues to seize large chunks of territory.

Or how about these Russian soliders looting their own country??
www.express.co.uk...

Russian military caught 'looting their own villages' as Vladimir Putin quickly loses grip.

Discipline appears to be breaking down within the Russian military ranks, as soldiers are repeatedly caught looting their own villages after being deployed to defend them. It is thought that many of the Russian troops deployed to Kursk were young conscripts with no experience of war.

Videos from security cameras this week shared on social media have shown Russian soldiers ransacking supply warehouses, pharmacies, phone stores, and clothing shops. Many of the videos come from Glushkovo, a village still under Russian military control.

Hows that oil fire doing? Are the 22 oil tanks still ablaze?
www.independent.co.uk...

A massive fire rages for a third day at a Russian oil depot targeted in a Ukrainian drone attack

Russian authorities struggled Tuesday to put out a massive fire in the southern Rostov region for a third consecutive day after an oil depot was hit by Ukrainian drones as Ukrainian forces push further into Russia's Kursk region.

The fire at the depot in the town of Proletarsk burned across an area of 10,000 square meters, according to Russian state news agencies. There are 500 firefighters involved in the operation, and 41 of them already have been hospitalized with injuries, according to the Russian state-owned news agency TASS, citing local officials.

Ukraine’s Army General Staff claimed responsibility Sunday for attacking the oil depot, which was used to supply the needs of Russia’s army, calling it a measure “to undermine the military and economic potential of the Russian Federation.”

Yeah, just beaver dams!!! You're funny!

www.pravda.com.ua...

Ukraine crosses Putin's red lines again, but he just blinks – The Washington Post

Ukraine's incursion through Russia's defences during the first major foreign invasion since World War II has exposed the Kremlin's seemingly imaginary red lines and revealed a passive and muted response from Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.

If Russia's territorial integrity were threatened, 'we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people. It’s not a bluff,' he said a few months later in September. 'The citizens of Russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our Motherland, our independence and freedom will be ensured – I emphasise this again – with all the means at our disposal,' making a clear reference to Russia’s nuclear weapons.

All Mad Vlad can do is beat his chest and send more poor Russians into the meat grinder whilst fantasizing about his dream of the former glory of the USSR. All this, while he's losing his grip on reality and power, and making Russia look weak to the Chinese, who I imagine are rubbing their hands together and dreaming of which chuncks of land they can sieze.
www.telegraph.co.uk...

The fall of Vladimir Putin is now only a matter of time

Cyber-attacks were combined with armour, artillery, infantry and specialist engineering to dismantle enemy defences. Russian drones and sensors were blinded by electronic warfare. An air defence umbrella was thrown up, closing the skies to Putin’s planes.

This time, Ukraine caught the Russians off guard. Some 400 square miles have been seized, and an estimated 2,500 Russian conscripts captured, with perhaps 3,000 more now kettled south of the river Sejm. The Europeans and Americans have been every bit as blindsided by the speed of the advance as the Russians.

It began by destroying Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Then it attacked oil and gas installations within Russia, intending economic disruption. Then its drones hit Russian military targets as far afield as Moscow and Murmansk, where last month it struck an airfield 1,100 miles from the front line. Now it is using Western-supplied weapons on Russian soil.

What has been Putin’s response? To crack down further on the media, to deny that there is a problem and to issue bland assurances of victory. He has put his former chief bodyguard, Aleksey Dyumin (himself from Kursk) in charge of “Operation Revenge”. But, obsessed with the Donbas, he has not diverted significant numbers of troops. Western intelligence sources estimate that around 5,000 men have been sent from Crimea and Zaporizhia, but none from Donetsk, where Russia’s main offensive is taking place. And 5,000 is nowhere near adequate to the task of taking back territory.

a reply to: Imhere

capturing beaver dams for “tiktok”

Its funny that you mention 'Tik Tok', the Chechen troops are becoming the laughing stock of the Russian military.....

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Feared when they invaded Ukraine three months ago, pro-Russia Chechen fighters are now facing mockery for being more interested in uploading TikTok videos than fighting.

Videos of these fighters with their distinctive beards posing against the ruins of Mariupol, backslapping each other as they shoot at traffic lights and fooling around on stolen motorbikes litter the TikTok social media channel.

"This is the Chechen 'TikTok' battalion in Mariupol," the MilitaryLand.net blog wrote underneath a video of Chechen commanders strolling down a destroyed street. "Note how clean their uniforms are and their equipment is."

This interest in social media appears to be encouraged by the Chechen fighters' leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

a reply to: Imhere

Meanwhile:

youtu.be...

Ukraine appears to have retaken Kurdiumivka in Donetsk Oblast near Bakhmut.

Has Medvedev been heard from recently?

PS. Apparently yes.

www.yahoo.com... ferrer_sig=AQAAADL5HPuFwNidRBPUMlKhI80s3koEdhIkN_7U0WHVoZ-neJEhhfWmbjGx8Htev08WQgttIloVWiFGjGpsgfw2cC5b0dlDqA8PvOQiJpcRkgVXLKCHqe-iDTHMsAyJI8W9EPiMXki YHWp8pD94zHtylmMk2dHqqT9Vu0dx4lZeZqEj

a reply to: Imhere

"Beaver dams"?

a reply to: Imhere

I think the point of this incursion is to make Putin look weak, maybe even fatally so.

Now we have oligarchs openly questioning his leadership and even state TV doing so.

Looks like it might be working.

So, I think you might have missed a trick.

Time to take off your rose tinted glasses?

More reports are coming in that Novohrodivka is falling rapidly. One of the last towns outside of Pokrovsk. Also confirmed on other maps such as “ISW” etc

The Russian invasion army needed three days to capture most of the 14.000 inhabitants town #Novohrodivka, 10 km S-E of Pokrovsk, without a single armored vehicle and leaving the infrastructure mostly intact.

x.com...

a reply to: Oldcarpy2
I would not put my eggs in any basket betting on the end of Putin's reign. LOL, actually it is pretty wishful thinking. Remind me which nation on Earth has 100% blind loyalty to its leaders?? it certainly is not the case in Europe or North and South America, or Africa. Are you actuallyconveying to the world, that Putin is actually permitting dissent from his own elites, while the Europeans continue to crack down on free speech and send its own citizens to prison for their non-violent speech ...

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I'm not "conveying" anything to the World.

I have no idea what is happening in Russia, other than oligarchs and state TV seem to now be critical of Putins leadership.

I have been fairly critical of Starmers crackdown on free speech in the UK but at least he isn't poisoning folk or gulaging them for donkeys years or chucking them out of upper floor windows.

Mind you, that's the topic of other threads, not this one.

Kurdiumivka in Donetsk Oblast near Bakhmut.

Any comment on that?