Ukrainian forces defending the Pokrovsk axis pulled back from their positions several weeks ago, specifically around the villages of Sukhyi Yar and Lysivka south of Myrnohrad. As of publication, Ukraine’s General Staff and Ground Forces had not commented on journalists’ reports of a possible withdrawal on the Pokrovsk axis.
The move helped shrink a “fire trap” for Ukrainian troops and reduce the risk of encirclement, according to two servicemembers operating on the Pokrovsk axis in the Air Assault Forces and an infantry brigade, who spoke to Ukrainska Pravda.
The soldiers said they pulled back from positions around Lysivka and Sukhyi Yar and took up new positions farther north to avoid a potential encirclement and straighten the front line.
“It was simply impossible to go in there anymore. The enemy controlled everything with FPV drones and small infantry groups. The road to the positions is 20 kilometers. Plus, the Russians were moving in not only from the flanks but also from the rear,” one of the soldiers said.
The outlet reported that the 25th Air Assault Brigade and the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade were holding the line on this part of the Pokrovsk axis.
“These are among the strongest brigades brought into Pokrovsk more than a year ago. They held their own positions and also plugged gaps between neighboring units’ positions,” Ukrainska Pravda wrote.
The pullback was difficult. At the time, a significant part of Pokrovsk, located east of Lysivka and Sukhyi Yar, was occupied by Russian forces, so the withdrawal unfolded under small-arms fire.
The decision to leave some positions was made in part by infantry commanders who did not want their troops to be encircled.
The Ukrainian General Staff and Ground Forces have not commented on a possible pullback from positions near Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
In its morning update on December 8, Ukraine’s General Staff said defenders on the Pokrovsk axis repelled 53 assaults in the directions of Novoe Shakhove, Novyi Donbas, Belytske, Rodynske, Krasnyi Lyman, Pokrovsk, Hryshyne, Myrnohrad, Molodetske, Novopavlivka, and in the areas of the settlements of Shakhove, Novoekonomichne, Zvereve, Kotlyne, Udachne, Dachne, Filiya.
On December 4, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukraine controls the northern streets of Pokrovsk but did not specify the situation in Myrnohrad.
Earlier, Bild military analyst Julian Röpcke claimed that Russia fully captured the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region on December 1 He said thousands of Ukrainian troops remained in neighboring Myrnohrad, asking for help.
Military expert Dmytro Sniehyriov said elite Russian units have been thrown into the fight for Pokrovsk, underscoring the city’s importance to Vladimir Putin. But due to catastrophic losses, he argued, the term “elite” is now largely nominal, with penal units fighting in place of naval infantry and airborne troops.
