Fighting intensified in eastern Ukraine around the frontline city of Pokrovsk as Russia carried out another overnight attack targeting civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian authorities said that three missiles and 135 drones were fired overnight, with the country’s air defenses taking out all but one missile and 41 drones. No casualties have been reported.
The attacks came after an even more intense barrage the previous night, with 430 drones and 18 missiles that injured at least 35 people targeting the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said that the death toll rose to seven people on the morning of November 15.
In response, the Ukrainian military said it has struck facilities inside Russia that it considers key to its adversary's war effort. The statement added the strikes targeted an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region and a military contingent in the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya region.
The Battle For Pokrovsk Intensifies
Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that 265 clashes had occurred over the last 24 hours between Russia and Ukrainian forces along the front line. Nearly half of those took place in the villages and area surrounding Pokrovsk, which holds crucial road and rail junctions and has been under threat of encirclement by Russian forces for most of the year.
There were other clashes in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region, where Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on November 15 that its forces captured the village of Yablukove. The claim could not be independently verified by RFE/RL.
But attention remains on Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian troops have come under more pressure there in recent weeks, with General Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine’s top military commander, visiting units fighting to hold the city in the eastern Donetsk region.
Syrskiy said Ukraine’s key goals were to regain control of certain areas, protect supply and evacuation lines, and create new ones.
“There is no question of Russian control over the city of Pokrovsk or of the operational encirclement of Ukraine’s defence forces in the area,” Syrskiy said during his November 13 visit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is not opposed to withdrawing from Pokrovsk amid the “very difficult” situation, but it was a decision for commanders on the ground.
“No one is forcing them to die for the sake of ruins. I will support our soldiers, especially the commanders who are there, in how they can control the situation, or if it's too expensive for us. The most important thing for us is our soldiers,” Zelenskyy told Bloomberg during a recent interview.
Earlier this week, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its forces had pushed Ukrainian troops out of surrounding towns and villages to the south of Pokrovsk, which is still home to about 7,000 inhabitants -- down from more than 60,000 prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Pokrovsk is strategic to Moscow as taking the area can provide a foothold to launch further attacks north toward Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, the two largest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Donetsk region.
In an analysis of the latest battlefield maneuvers around Pokrovsk, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said that Russian forces are continuing to advance in the area, but how Ukraine decides to counterattack and move back its forces will determine how strategic of a gain Pokrovsk will be for the next phase of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
“Russian forces will likely collapse the pocket around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, but the significance of seizing these towns will depend on the circumstances and conduct of the Ukrainian withdrawal,” the report said.
