For Russia, there is no question of capturing Pokrovsk, it wants to block it – Muzhenko

Russia does not aim to capture Pokrovsk directly, but seeks to blockade the city. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2014-2019) Viktor Muzhenko stated this in an interview with Radio Liberty, analyzing the current situation at the front. According to him, the blockade of Pokrovsk “is more profitable for the Russian army, as it allows to minimize its own losses and at the same time creates significant problems for the defense of Ukrainian forces.”

“It will be much cheaper for them, from the point of view and resources, maybe not resources, but from the point of view of their losses. And now they are doing it. They bypass from the south, plan to bypass Pokrovsk and reach the border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. And even go to the Dnipropetrovsk region,” says Muzhenko.

He explained that Russian troops are trying to bypass the city from the south in order to block key transport routes, such as the conditional line Slovianka-Mezhov. This will limit supplies to the region and create a risk of a complete encirclement of Pokrovsk, Mirnograd and the surrounding areas.

“If the railway tracks, two directions and two highways that go there are cut east of this line, this will immediately limit the supply of Pokrovsk. That is, it cuts logistics. There is only one more direction – to Dobropill and Lozovo. There are more from north to south. Somewhere in the area of ​​Dobropill or, perhaps, somewhere in Radenskoe. There is such a settlement. If this is also cut off, then Pokrovsk actually finds itself surrounded,” says Muzhenko.

If this scenario is implemented, the consequences will be “extremely dangerous”, Muzhenko emphasizes.

“This will mean that we actually left Donbas to the Russians,” Muzhenko explained.

The former commander-in-chief emphasized that “such a development is one of the likely options for the actions of the Russian army and requires decisive actions by the Ukrainian military command.”

Since December 5, the DeepState project reports on the daily advance of the Russian army to the southwest of Pokrovsk. And in the reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in recent months, the Pokrovsky and Kurakhiv directions are constantly mentioned as the places of the most active attacks by the forces of the Russian Federation.

British intelligence said on December 15 that Russian forces had made further gains south of Pokrovsk, a key logistics center in Donetsk region. And the experts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), based on the study of geolocation data, write that now the Russian military is at a distance of about 10 kilometers from the border of the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and “Putin may be putting pressure on the Russian military command to advance to the border , and not to capture Pokrovsk at this time.”