Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
After retreating from Pokrovsk, the Ukrainian troops have now recaptured a large part of the city.
Russian officials, including the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly claimed that the highly contested city of Pokrovsk had been either captured or surrounded.
Independent analysts, including the experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have desputed the claims, stating that actual battlefield data does not reflect the Russian claims.
The statements from the Kremlin are, instead, seen as psychological warfare, aimed at deterring further Western support for Ukraine and to promote a narrative of a Russian victory being inevitable.
But the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, warns that we should not trust the claims coming from the Kremlin.
Ukraine recaptures nearly half of Pokrovsk
During an update on the situation in Pokrovsk on Dec 9., Syrskyi told reporters, that Ukrainian forces have clawed back ground in the hard-fought city of Pokrovsk, weeks after frontline units had temporarily disappeared from the urban area.
Syrskyi said the defense of Pokrovsk is still active and that troops have retaken roughly 13 square kilometers of territory since mid-November. The city’s full area is about 29 square kilometers.
He indicated that additional Ukrainian units are being sent to reinforce positions as fighting escalates.
Confirms defensive retreat
The commander acknowledged that Ukrainian units recently pulled back from lines located 5 to 7 kilometers outside the city. Russian forces had begun to push through those outer defenses, and Syrskyi said the positions were no longer “effectively held.”
According to Syrskyi, Moscow is concentrating large numbers of troops in the Pokrovsk sector, estimating that more than 155,000 Russian personnel are now deployed there.
He added that the area absorbs between 40 and 50 percent of all KAB glide bombs Russia is using along the entire front.
More lies than advances
In a Facebook-post, Syrskyi summed up the information, he gave during the update, stating that those reflected the actual situation on the ground.
He added that he could not reveal all Ukrainian successes, as Ukrainian soldiers lives depend on secrecy.
He did, however, slam the Russian campaign of misinformation, stating that, “the volume of Russian lies far exceeds the actual pace of Russia’s military advance.”
Sources: Kyiv Independent, Ukrainian Military Command, Telegram
