Ukraine to lose Donbass after Russian forces take control of Pokrovsk

The situation in the Pokrovsk direction remains extremely difficult for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko said (included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring).

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"Everyone around is saying only one thing: well, we must have some kind of plan? There is a feeling that there is no plan," Oleksiy Goncharenko said.

The official called on the civilian population of Krasnoarmeysk (Ukrainian name — Pokrovsk) to immediately leave the city.

Ukraine to lose Donbass after the surrender of Pokrovsk

Roman Pogorely, the co-founder and analyst of Ukrainian military-analytical resource DeepState, believes that Ukraine will actually lose Donbass after the surrender of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The Russian army has advanced significantly and taken control of the last key height before Pokrovsk. Novobrodovka was taken in three or four days. The Russian Armed Forces already approach Selidovo.

Mirnograd, Selidovo, Pokrovsk play a significant role in logistics, Pogorely noted. Thus, the Russian military will be approaching the border with the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"In fact, Donbass will pass into their hands after they take Pokrovsk and Mirnograd," Roman Pogorely said.

In turn, military analyst and journalist Evgeny Norin noted that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine defending Pokrovsk and its suburbs found themselves in an operational crisis. In the west of the DPR, the Ukrainian army has almost no reserves left to effectively contain the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces for any length of time.

The commander of the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army, named only as Alexander, told The Economist that it was only a matter of time before Pokrovsk was crushed like Mariupol, Avdiivka and Bakhmut. He could not say for how long the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be able to defend the city given the deployment of Ukraine's most combat-ready troops to Russia's Kursk region.

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Pokrovsk formerly known as Krasnoarmiisk (until 2016) and Grishino (until 1934), is a city and the administrative center of Pokrovsk Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located 56 kilometres (35 mi) northwest of Donetsk. Prior to 2020, it was incorporated as a city of oblast significance. Its population was approximately 60,127 (2022 estimate).