Russia has continued to expand its force concentration on the Pokrovsk axis, where more than 155,000 troops are now deployed—roughly 20% of the Kremlin’s entire invasion force—Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, told reporters during a briefing, according to Suspilne Donbas on December 9.
Syrskyi said Russia currently fields around 710,000 personnel in its full-scale war against Ukraine, and the situation around Pokrovsk remains “difficult and dynamic.”
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He noted that 40–50% of all Russian aerial bombs dropped on the front are being used on this single sector.
“At one stage in the autumn, there were no Ukrainian forces left inside Pokrovsk due to limited capability,” Syrskyi said. “However, since November 15, through our offensive actions, we have regained control of about 13 square kilometers within the city—out of 29 in total.”
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Ukrainian forces now hold the northern part of the city roughly along the railway line and have also cleared and secured 54 square kilometers west of Pokrovsk, he added.
Syrskyi emphasized that Ukraine’s defense of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region has now lasted 16 months.
The Commander-in-Chief also confirmed that Ukrainian forces withdrew a few days ago from positions 5–7 kilometers outside the city, which Russia had begun bypassing.
“These were positions we could no longer rotate and that the enemy was filtering past,” Syrskyi said. “Their further defense was not practical.”
He stressed that nearby Myrnohrad is not encircled, though logistics are difficult: supplies are still moving, and additional routes are being established to support units in both Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
Syrskyi added that the active frontline has shortened over the past month, now 1,218 kilometers, down from 1,253, due to actions by Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Earlier, a Ukrainian tank rolled to point-blank distance and fired directly into a multi-story apartment block where Russian troops were positioned in the city of Rodynske, north of Pokrovsk.
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