Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is under pressure. On the one hand, there are massive accusations of corruption in the energy and arms sectors, which are not directed against him personally, but against people from his close circle.
On the other hand, there is the difficult situation in several places along the front in the defensive battle against Russia - especially in the destroyed industrial city of Pokrovsk in the east.
And here comes the question - is Zelensky needlessly sacrificing his soldiers, writes the German publication Focus.de, citing Tagesspiegel. The numerous Russian attacks and the apparently severely restricted supply route show - despite all the uncertainty about the specific situation - a difficult one for Ukraine's soldiers on the ground, who are already depleted of personnel.
Even the Ukrainian leadership acknowledges the difficulties, but no order has been issued to withdraw. Some military observers and soldiers consider this wrong, especially since Kiev's troops have previously fought for areas that eventually fell to the Russians. Is Zelensky therefore senselessly sacrificing the lives of his soldiers in Pokrovsk?
From Zelensky's point of view, the decision to withdraw from Pokrovsk should be made by military commanders. Why is Russia trying so purposefully to capture Pokrovsk? According to Zelensky, Putin wants to show US President Donald Trump that the Russian army is advancing on the front. Even with huge losses in manpower.
Pokrovsk is seen as a symbol of Ukraine's resistance to Russian aggression. After three and a half years of fighting, the country will lose another important piece of territory in the western part of Donetsk region. It would also mean that the neighboring city of Mirnograd can no longer be defended.
Taking Pokrovsk would give Russia a tactical advantage in its further advance. However, the city had already lost its function as a center for Ukrainian supplies on the front line - and if the Ukrainian army abandoned the city, it would have been able to retreat to already established defensive positions further back.
Zelensky told Bloomberg that the Russian army is not as strong as it claims to be. That is why Russia is currently launching a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The logic: If the battlefield success isn’t significant enough, Ukraine must be forced to surrender through power outages and freezing homes.
Ukrainian troops are locked in street battles with Russian forces in the city and are struggling to hold their ground to avoid being surrounded by a larger Russian force as the war of attrition waged by Russian troops slowly spreads across the region, the AP reported earlier this week.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrsky said the main goals are to regain control of certain areas of the city, as well as to secure logistical routes and create new ones to resupply troops and evacuate the wounded. "There can be no question of Russian control over the city of Pokrovsk or of operational encirclement of Ukrainian defense forces in the area," he stressed.