"For a time Pokrovsk was a haven, a wartime Ukrainian boom town because of its strategic position in the east, 30 miles (48km) from the front. But that was before the summer of 2024, when a rapid Russian advance engulfed the industrial centre in a shattering conflict, a duel only now reaching its endgame. The 18-month battle for Pokrovsk epitomises the current state of the Ukraine war: an attritional struggle in which gradual Russian advances have been made at extraordinary human cost."
"Though it demonstrates Russia cannot easily capture urban areas, the fight has also drained Ukraine, and consequences are emerging elsewhere. Such has been the level of destruction that Pokrovsk is no longer even strategically significant. Its population is decimated, its industry destroyed and supply routes are re-routed; instead it has become a bloody signpost as peace negotiations restart. There are fairly strong military arguments for Ukraine giving up ground, said Nick Reynolds, a land warfare analyst at the Rusi thinktank."
Pokrovsk was a strategic wartime boom town 30 miles from the front before a rapid Russian advance in summer 2024 engulfed its industrial centre. An 18-month battle turned into an attritional struggle with gradual Russian gains at extraordinary human cost. The fighting showed that Russian forces struggle to capture urban areas easily but have nonetheless exhausted Ukrainian resources and caused ripple effects elsewhere. Destruction has rendered Pokrovsk strategically insignificant: the population is decimated, industry destroyed, and supply routes rerouted. Military arguments exist for ceding ground, but giving up territory would not necessarily end the fighting and would shift battles to different terrain.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]