Russian troops continue to make significant advances toward Pokrovsk, the city in Donetsk that is a key logistics hub, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) whose map shows the latest state of play in the region.
The Washington, D.C., think tank cited geolocated footage from Wednesday it said showed Russian advances into Memryk, a town around 18 miles southeast of Pokrovsk, which some military bloggers claimed Moscow had completely seized.
Other geolocated footage showed advances by Russian forces in other areas southeast of Pokrovsk, near the city of Novohrodivka, which has been corroborated by Russian military bloggers.
The ISW’s map of the area shows these Russian advances, as well as incremental gains elsewhere southeast of the city, near Krasnyi Yar, Karlivka, Mykhailivka and Marynivka.
This map from the Institute for the Study of War from August 28, 2024, shows the Russian gains toward Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast.
Institute for the Study of War
Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub that lies on an important road used by the Ukrainian military to supply other Ukrainian-held outposts in the region.
Moscow’s control of the city would allow it to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its bid to capture Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.
When contacted by Newsweek, Ukraine’s defense ministry said in a statement, “we do not comment on current operations.”
Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.
Ukrainian servicemen are seen in the Pokrovsk district, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, on August 8, 2024. Russian forces are continuing to advance towards Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub.
ROMAN PILIPEY/Getty Images
A substack article by Frontelligence Insight by the Ukrainian war analyst X account Tatarigami said on Wednesday that another concern is Pokrovsk’s location only 12 miles from the administrative border of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
“If Pokrovsk falls, Russian forces would face minimal obstacles in advancing toward Dnipro, potentially extending their control into another administrative region of Ukraine,” the article said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the situation near Pokrovsk is “difficult” and that Ukraine had decided to “strengthen” its forces in the sector although he has predicted Moscow would have to sacrifice tens of thousands of troops to achieve its aims.
It suggests that Putin’s forces have been undeterred by Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month which has seen Kyiv’s troops capture 500 square miles, 100 settlements and 594 prisoners, according to Zelensky’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Ukraine’s military confirmed that it was behind attacks on oil depots in Russia’s Rostov Oblast. Kyiv also said that it had hit Kirov Oblast for the first time, which lies around 800 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and Special Operations Forces attacked the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast overnight Tuesday Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Ukrainian forces also struck the Zenit oil facility in Kotelnich in the Kirov region as well as a Russian field artillery warehouse in western Voronezh Oblast, the General Staff added.
