KYIV
\nUkraine is intensifying its efforts to defend the strategic hub of Pokrovsk, aiming to secure key supply and evacuation routes and root out Russian infantry infiltrating the city, the top army commander said on Thursday.
\nOleksandr Syrskyi said he visited the area to meet his troops as Russia \u2014 almost four years into its invasion of Ukraine \u2014 continued to increase its assaults.
\nHe dismissed Moscow\u2019s assertion that its forces had trapped the Ukrainian troops inside the eastern stronghold. \u201cThe enemy infantry, avoiding combat, is gathering in urban areas and changing locations, so the primary task is to locate and destroy them,\u201d Syrskyi said on the Telegram app.
\nRussia has been inching toward Pokrovsk in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk region for more than a year, slowly but steadily taking control of the small villages to its south.
\nOn Sunday, Ukraine\u2019s general staff said that at least 200 Russian military personnel entered the city in separate groups as small-arms firefights raged in the former logistics hub. Ukraine was taking steps to \u201cstrengthen the stability of defenses\u201d in the city and aimed at bolstering its logistics by improving defense of supply and evacuation routes, Syrskyi said.
\n\u201cThe main priority is to save the lives of our soldiers,\u201d he said. Logistics for the city were complicated due to Russia\u2019s FPV drones \u201cbut possible,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s 7th Rapid Response Corps operating in the area said in a statement on Facebook. The brigade added that Russia mostly used infantry to attack Pokrovsk, but also deployed armed vehicles to advance on Myrnohrad, around 6 km (4 miles) to the northeast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Ukraine is intensifying its efforts to defend the strategic hub of Pokrovsk, aiming to secure key supply and evacuation routes and root out Russian infantry infiltrating the city, the top army commander said on Thursday. Oleksandr Syrskyi said he visited the area to meet his troops as Russia \u2014 almost four years into its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-511693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n