According to maps from the analytical project DeepState, Pokrovsk has already been largely captured by Russian forces, while Mirnograd is surrounded by a “gray“ zone, UNIAN reported.
Military observer Ivan Timochko explains that the so-called “gray“ zones are areas over which the Russian enemy has no control.
He stated that there are 150,000 Russian occupiers in the Pokrovsk-Mirnograd agglomeration area. The city of Pokrovsk, located in the Donetsk region, and the neighboring Mirnograd, have long been a key target for the Russian army on the Donbas front.
Moscow has already announced that its forces have captured Pokrovsk. According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army continues to carry out massive attacks on this point of the front, including by air, artillery and drones.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Oleksandr Syrsky, said yesterday that the Ukrainian military has held areas in the city of Pokrovsk since mid-November, but some military units were ordered to withdraw from “impractical positions“ outside the city over the past week, where rotation could no longer be carried out.
He said that these were positions 5-7 kilometers outside the city, BTA reported, citing the “Reuters” agency. "We continue to hold the northern part of the city, approximately to the railway line. In addition, in the western part of Pokrovsk we have cleared and control about 54 square kilometers," Syrsky told Ukrainian journalists. He added that the situation in the city is difficult, and the Russians have amassed 156,000 troops and are using fog and rain as cover.
Syrsky added that Ukrainian forces are facing some of the most serious challenges since the start of the full-scale war, Ukrinform reported.
"The enemy is intensifying offensive activities and our response must be as effective as possible. "Unmanned systems play a key role in deterring the Russian occupiers, so we must accelerate work in this area to preserve the lives of Ukrainian servicemen and inflict maximum losses on the enemy," Syrsky said after a meeting on the comprehensive use of drones. According to him, at the current stage of the war, drones destroy about 60 percent of all enemy targets.