Russia has advanced toward one of its key targets in eastern Ukraine in recent days, as Moscow says its troops have captured another village in the embattled Donetsk region.
The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which tracks daily changes to the front line, said on Saturday that Russian forces had advanced to the east and southeast of Pokrovsk, a city in the west of Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region.
The Ukrainian-held Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk has been referred to as a “fortress” settlement, key to Ukrainian defenses in the east and connected to other critical defensive cities, like Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, and Kostiantynivka.
Russia has been slowly but surely heading for the settlement since the former Ukrainian stronghold, Avdiivka, fell to Moscow in February. The ISW previously told Newsweek that Russia had advanced roughly two square kilometers (0.7 square miles) each day to the west of the Avdiivka toward Pokrovsk between February and the start of August.
This pace would likely slow down as Moscow’s troops head further toward Pokrovsk, coming up once again against more residential and built-up areas, Angelica Evans, a Russia researcher with the think tank, predicted at the time.
Destroyed buildings in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, on September 2, 2024. The U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War said on Saturday that Russian forces had advanced to the east and southeast of Pokrovsk.
Associated Press
Popular Ukrainian war-tracking blog DeepState said late on Friday that Russia had advanced in Selydove, a town southeast of Pokrovsk where heavy fighting has been reported.
Ukraine’s military said in a statement at 4 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET) on Sunday that Russia had “already made 15 attempts” to dislodge Ukrainian troops from positions around Selydove, the village of Myrolyubivka, east of Pokrovsk, and other settlements along the front line.
The pro-Kremlin Shot Telegram channel said on Saturday that Russia had made an “epic breakthrough” into Selydove, claiming that Moscow’s forces now control 80 percent of the settlement.
“The main battles are for the city center,” the channel wrote, claiming that Ukrainian forces had pulled back to the northwest of Selydove.
A map produced by the Institute for the Study of War think tank. Russia has advanced toward one of its key targets in eastern Ukraine in recent days, the think tank said on Saturday.
Institute for the Study of War
The Two Majors Telegram channel said on Sunday that a Russian push “led to the collapse of the Ukrainian Armed Forces defense” in Selydove, the village of Hirnyk—southeast of the former—and another settlement to the southwest.
Russian state news agency Tass reported on Sunday that Kyiv had pulled back from many positions in Hirnyk, citing an anonymous security source. This could not be independently verified.
Selydove “has been taken,” the account claimed. Newsweek could not independently verify battlefield reports, and has reached out to the Ukrainian military and Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its troops had captured Izmailivka, a village southeast of Pokrovsk and immediately west of Hirnyk. The previous day, Moscow said its forces had seized Oleksandropil, a village northeast of Pokrovsk and west of ongoing fighting for the Donetsk city of Toretsk.
Separately on Sunday, DeepState said Russia had seized Levadne, a village in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region that Kyiv had retaken during its 2023 counteroffensive. It sits just across the southern Donetsk border, southwest of Pokrovsk.
Vladyslav Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in the south, said on Sunday that Ukraine was still in control of high ground near Levadne and were trying to recover their positions.
