Russian invaders are trying to take the city of Pokrovsk into partial encirclement, but they lack the manpower to carry out a direct assault on the city.
This was reported on live television by Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for the operational-strategic grouping of troops "Khortytsia".
"On the Pokrovsk direction, there is certain advancement from the enemy, in particular, partial penetration between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka. They are trying to develop this, while our forces are trying to destroy as much of their manpower and equipment as possible, slow down their advance and push them back," Trehubov noted.
According to him, the enemy is attempting to partially encircle Pokrovsk but does not have enough forces for a direct assault.
"Right now, entering the city is not really meaningful for them (the Russians — ed.). In general, there is no particular point in storming the city at this moment. The Russians have already understood what happens if they assault the cities ’head-on’. Despite all the available manpower, they still do not have enough people to repeat such ’meat assaults’ as were in Mariupol or Bakhmut. They would just completely waste their forces. Therefore, they are trying to take the city into partial encirclement. It is these efforts that we are currently observing," the spokesperson emphasized.
He added that the front line in the Pokrovsk direction is very wide, and the enemy is using a tactic of advancing with a large number of small sabotage and reconnaissance groups (SRG).
"The Russians are operating in small groups, but the number of these groups is very large, and the front is very wide. They are trying to penetrate by various means: using different camouflage techniques, through the ’greenery’, etc. They simply infiltrate in layers, hoping someone will pass through. When a group is destroyed, another group immediately appears behind it... There is constant ’worm-like’ pressure on Ukrainian positions from different sides, hoping someone will pass through," the spokesperson of OSG "Khortytsia" stressed.