Russian forces that pushed into Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region are largely hiding as they wait for backup from their main units, a Ukrainian officer said, describing a fluid and difficult battlefield.
Ukraine’s military says Moscow assembled about 12,000 troops to seize the city, with roughly 170,000 Russian personnel deployed along the broader axis.
Those Russian soldiers who managed to infiltrate the city are “mostly hiding,” Serhiy Tsekhotskyi, an officer with Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said on Kyiv TV.
“These soldiers are in a wait-and-see posture to receive reinforcements and support from their main forces. The active operations you see are the work of the Defense Forces,” he added.
“They understand where they’ve ended up — we hear it on intercepts and in what they try to pass to their main forces. They’re not telling the truth either, because their task is to stay alive,” Tsekhotskyi said.
On Thursday, Ukrainian special-operations units and aircraft of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (GUR) launched a complex airmobile operation in the encircled city under Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov’s command.
On Friday, pro-Russian propagandists, citing their military, claimed all 11 commandos had been killed. Ukrainian media denied that, saying intelligence units are continuing stabilization efforts in the city.
