"The city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region is a hotspot in the war between Russia and Ukraine. For more than a year, there has been heavy fighting at this frontline, which has shifted to the streets in recent months. The Russians gradually trickle into the city, a drone pilot told DW; it was impossible to track all of them. The attackers, the pilot said, were looking for hiding places, waiting for favorable weather conditions and entering the city individually or in pairs, pretending to be civilians and remaining undetected for months."
"According to my observations, infiltration is the main problem. It's very difficult to determine who's the enemy and who's a civilian," said the reconnaissance officer, who is deployed in the region with his Ukrainian unit. He told DW that the Russian troops were advancing on Pokrovsk with a large number of drones and glide bombs. Using drones, they were setting up ambushes, hampering the logistics of the Ukrainian forces and destroying any cover with their bombs."
Pokrovsk has seen more than a year of heavy frontline fighting that has moved into city streets in recent months. Russian forces are infiltrating gradually, often entering individually or in pairs, posing as civilians and remaining undetected for months. Russian use of drones and glide bombs creates ambushes, destroys cover, and cripples Ukrainian logistics. Russia holds numerical and air advantages, with pervasive drones forcing Ukrainian air defenses to stay back and lacking enough aircraft to counter Suchoi bombers. The contact line near Pokrovsk stretches about 20 kilometers, complicating resupply, ammunition delivery, technical support, and troop rotations.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]