“According to analysts, Russian forces likely captured the rest of Solony (southwest of Pokrovsk) as part of this offensive”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
According to the analysis, geo-located footage published on January 12 shows that Russian troops have recently advanced east of Myrny (east of Pokrovsk) and captured positions along the T-0504 route.
ISW also cites Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets, according to which units of the Russian 55th and 74th Motorized Rifle Brigades recently entered the T-0406 route between Kotlyn and Udachny (both southwest of Pokrovsk) and cut it. And the Russian “militants” claimed that the Russian troops had allegedly seized the section of both highways.
Read also: General Staff: the situation in the Pokrovsky and Kursk directions remains tense
According to analysts, Russian forces likely captured the rest of Solony (southwest of Pokrovsk) as part of this offensive.
“Units of the 5th separate motorized rifle brigade (Russia – ed.)may have been involved in the blocking of the T-0405 route near Myrny, and the decision of the Russian military command to redeploy the 5th Infantry Brigade indicates that it prioritizes offensive efforts in this area and the capture of Pokrovsk from the east over further offensives west of Kurakhovo “, the report says.
According to the text, ISW previously suggested that Russian forces could also use the offensive east of Pokrovsk in the area of Vozdvyzhenka and Myrny to eliminate the Ukrainian salient southwest of Toretsk along the H-20 Donetsk-Kostyantynivka route.
Also citing geolocation footage from January 13, ISW claims that on January 12, the Russian army advanced in other areas southwest of Pokrovsk, capturing Pishchane, southwest of the city.
Read also: On a taxi under the sights of FPV drones: has the Russian army started hunting cars in Pokrovsk?
The DeepState project and the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that the Russian army in the first days of 2025 is actively capturing new territories to the south, southeast and east of Pokrovsk.
Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (2014–2019), Viktor Muzhenko, told Radio Svoboda in an interview that Russia does not aim to capture Pokrovsk directly, but seeks to blockade the city. 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.”
Subsequently, these intentions of the Russian troops were confirmed by the spokesman of the Khortytsia operational-strategic troop group, Viktor Tregubov. According to him, Russian troops are trying to bypass the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region in order to break the logistical chains and thus take the city into an operational environment.