File image.
On November 20, the Russian military expanded its control in the key city of Pokrovsk and nearby areas in Donetsk as the battle there nears its end.
In its daily briefing, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the 2nd Army of the Tsentr [Center] Group of Forces is finishing off remaining Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk, specifically in Tsentralny and Gornyak districts, as well as in the western industrial area.
More advance was also reported by the ministry in Rivne, located to the east of the city right before Myrnohrad, also known as Dimitrov.
Much of the road linking the two cities has already been captured by the Tsentr Group of Forces, and according to the ministry, four Ukrainian soldiers surrendered there in the last 24 hours only.
The ministry also released video footage showing Russian troops providing assistance to civilians in the Shakhtarsky neighborhood of Pokrovsk, which has been completely cleared from Kiev forces.
In a separate statement, the ministry said that the 51st Guards Combined Arms Army of the Tsentr Group of Forces expanded its control in the eastern, western and southern parts of Myrnohrad. It noted that drone units inflicted heavy losses on Kiev forces there.
“Over the past 24 hours, up to 180 servicemen, four armored personnel carriers, five armored fighting vehicles, four pickup trucks, and two artillery guns of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) have been neutralized in Krasnoarmeysk direction,” the ministry added.
Video footage released by the ministry shows multiple armored vehicles being destroyed by drones, in addition to the wreckage of dozens of other vehicles that were hit before.
Separately, the Russian MoD shared a testimony of a Ukrainian soldier, Sergey Nikitko, who was recently taken as a prisoner of war in Pokrovsk.
“People who do not want to evacuate to the Ukrainian side are called ‘waiters.’ No one respects them or considers them as people. For example, if a company is retreating, they have to blow up the building behind them, a ‘TM’ charge is placed at the base, and the building collapses along with the civilians… A grave,” Nikitko said.
“Near Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) we were surrounded. No proper provisions, no ammo. We survived as best we could. Took food wherever we could find it. Same with water, tried to survive. I wanted to survive. I came out and surrendered. Many wounded, no one to evacuate them. Heavy losses. I stayed for four days at the position, no food, no water. They started breaking into our shelters. I asked for a retreat. I was refused. They told me to hold on, to strengthen the position. I strengthened it, and they dismantled it again,” he added.
Kiev is yet to order a withdrawal from Pokrovsk and nearby area, but even if it does, such a move seems near impossible now.
Much of Pokrovsk is now controlled by the Russian military, Myrnohrad is steadily coming under control, and the whole area is about to be isolated. Ukrainian troops there are left with two options: surrender or risk their lives attempting to flee. What comes next after the capture of the city is likely a collapse in Ukrainian defenses.
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i “finish off” in lonely russian windows butts…heheheh
when you have nothing left but pathetically weak insults that just show how empty handed you are.