[Korrespondent] Porkovsk is the last major operating coal and steel centre in Ukraine.
The Russians have come very close to Pokrovsk, the last major industrial center of the Donetsk region under Ukrainian control.
The occupiers are preparing to cut off Pokrovsk's supply chains and begin an operation to seize the city. The capture of Pokrovsk by the Russian army, analysts warn, could deal a heavy blow to Ukraine's economy. It is the last functioning major coal and steel center in the country.
DEFENSE ISSUES
Selidovo was captured at the end of October. Ukrainian units left the city to avoid encirclement. However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces failed to build a reliable defense in the city's outskirts, and the Russian army continued to advance further west, seeking to bypass Pokrovsk from the south and cut off the city from all logistical routes.
The Russian army moved mainly along the Solona River and the railway line. In a month and a half, the Russians managed to overcome about 11 km and take control of the villages of Vishnevoye, Grigoryevka, Petrovka, Zheltoye, and Novopustinka.
The enemy's further advance to the west was to be stopped by a powerful fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a wooded hill between the villages of Novotroitskoye and Shevchenko.
Military observer Yuri Butusov says that the fortifications in this area were built very competently: the position was chosen correctly, the defense zone was prepared, the fortifications themselves were branched out and reliably protected from drones and artillery.
However, according to him, due to problems with the combat capability of the troops in this section of the front, the Russian army was able to seize these Ukrainian positions quickly and practically without resistance. Butusov believes that the command's miscalculations are to blame for this.
Nazar Voloshin, a spokesman for the Khortitsa operational-strategic group of troops, which is responsible for the area, says the Ukrainian army is trying to restore lost positions near Pokrovsk, in particular near the village of Vozrozhdenie (formerly Novy Trud), which is adjacent to the village of Shevchenko.
“The enemy attacked our fortifications in the Pokrovsk direction, west of Vozrozhdenie and south of Novotroitskoye, and as a result of prolonged clashes, two of our positions were destroyed and one was lost,” Voloshin said on the telethon.
If this fortified area is captured, Russian troops will be able to break through to the neighboring village of Peschanoye and seize the waste heap of the Taras Shevchenko mine. This commanding height will allow them to establish control over Pokrovsk's key logistical artery - the highway to Pavlograd and the Dnieper, which is seven kilometers to the north.
THEY ARE CUTTING OFF LOGISTICS
Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are already trying to infiltrate Pokrovsk, DeepState reports.
Ukrainian historian and military analyst Mikhail Zhirokhov, citing his sources, says that the Pokrovsk-Pavlograd-Dnepr highway can no longer be used for military supply purposes. Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers have been advised to look for other roads.
In addition, according to his data, a partial withdrawal of Ukrainian units, primarily artillery, outside the city has begun.
According to the analyst, if the logistics situation deteriorates significantly, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will completely leave the city. A repeat of the Bakhmut meat grinder, that is, heavy fighting for every street in the town, is unlikely to be expected, he is convinced.
Sergei Filimonov, commander of the Volki da Vinci battalion, which is part of the 59th motorized infantry brigade and is fighting in the Pokrovsk direction, also speaks about the intention of the Russian military to cut off the logistics of the Ukrainian army.
"Right now I don't see any need for the enemy to attack Pokrovsk head-on. I think that he will try to reach the highway between Pokrovsk and Pavlograd and can do this through the territory of both Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions," he said in an interview with the 1+1 TV channel in early December.