Russia outnumbers Ukrainian troops eight-to-one in their offensive to capture the semi-surrounded city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Oct. 27.
"(Russian troops) have devoted such forces to the Pokrovsk (sector) that Ukraine cannot devote to one direction (of the front) — one to eight people," Zelensky told journalists in a briefing, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
"Imagine how many Russian forces are there. But at the same time, they have not achieved the planned result."
After capturing Avdiivka, a long-time Ukrainian stronghold located over 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk, in February 2024, Russian troops have gradually advanced toward Pokrovsk, once a key Ukrainian logistics hub tucked away in a relatively safe part of Donetsk Oblast.
Russian troops have surrounded Pokrovsk from three sides, leaving about a 15-kilometer (about nine miles) gap for the Ukrainian military to bring in troops and supplies, according to the Ukrainian open-source battlefield monitoring group DeepState.
All the bridges into Pokrovsk were blown up by the Russian military and the evacuation of the wounded is nearly an impossible task, Senior Leitenant Natalia Stoiko, the head of medical services in the 5th Heavy Mechanized Brigade deployed in the Pokrovsk sector, said at the "A Person in the Army" conference held in Kyiv in October.
Stoiko said that the Ukrainian military lacks "everything," from engineering equipment to engineers themselves who could build temporary wooden bridges to allow evacuations.
Western military experts who previously spoke to the Kyiv Independent said it would be crucial for Ukraine to withdraw timely when it stops tactically making sense for its troops to hold onto the city despite the crippled logistic routes.
Despite lacking manpower, the Ukrainian military has repeatedly held onto cities that Russia was about to occupy, resulting in a chaotic last-minute withdrawal where the wounded were often left behind.
The Ukrainian military admitted on Oct. 26 that Russia has accumulated about 200 servicemen in Pokrovsk, infiltrating small infantry groups, reporting shooting and drone battles in the city.
About 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Pokrovsk, Ukraine has been launching counterattacks to take back the swathes of territories Russia penetrated through in an August breach near the town of Dobropillia.
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