“At least 70 assaults a day” – Zhdanov says whether the noose around Pokrovsk is tightening
31 January 18:34
Russian troops are slowly tightening the noose around Pokrovsk, a key logistical center whose main supply lines are under threat. While Ukraine stubbornly defends the city, its encirclement or fall could put Russia in a strong position to launch attacks in several directions in the east and increase pressure on Kyiv at a critical moment in the war. This material was published today by Reuters, according to
On both sides of the city, Russian troops are within range of artillery and drones on an important highway that runs east-west across Ukraine, the agency reports. And in the last few days, according to Reuters, Moscow’s troops have moved onto the main railroad track leading to the city of Dnipro.
Pokrovsk is indeed an extremely important hub for military logistics, and its capture will give Russia additional opportunities to move further west. However, is the situation really as described by Reuters? Komersant ukrainskyi asked military expert Oleg Zhdanov about this.
“Fifty-fifty. They are not tightening the noose, there is not even a semi-circumvention. The movement of Russian troops to the southwest is slowing down very, very much. We have slowed them down quite seriously there,”
– says the expert.
According to him, the Russians are now trying to attack from the east, between Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk, east of Myrnohrad, trying to stretch our troops in this way.
“But they have no success there at all. And in that part of the operational direction of Pokrovsk they are suffering huge losses,”
– Zhdanov says.
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At the same time, he does not hide the complexity of the situation:
“We have to constantly deploy reserves. We also have losses and we do not have enough personnel to deter these attacks.”
In addition, the expert says, the Russians are maintaining a frantic pace of attacks in this area. This means an incredible burden on the infantry and increased consumption of ammunition for artillery.
“At least seventy attacks per day. This is a lot. Moreover, it takes about the same amount of ammunition to hit a group of three to five people as a group of 10 to 15 people. They are breaking up their groups, and we are forced to spend artillery ammunition on them,”
– he notes.
However, Zhdanov insists that there is no question of “tightening the noose” around Pokrovsk.