Russia has concentrated up to 200,000 soldiers on the Pokrovsk front: situation overview.

Russian troops continue assaults on the Pokrovsk front. Approximately one third of all combat actions along the front line are concentrated in this sector. The Russian Federation has concentrated between 111,000 and 200,000 soldiers in this direction. Ukrainian military forces are conducting stabilization measures and maintaining defense under pressure from Russian attacks. Military analyst Alexey Hetman spoke about this during a broadcast on the FREEДОМ channel.

“One third of combat actions along the entire front line are taking place on the Pokrovsk front. We have added reserves there, I mean to the north of Pokrovsk, in the region of Dobropillya. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrskiy said that the Russians have concentrated about 111,000 troops there. However, military personnel who are directly on the ground, mid-level commanders, cautiously comment that there are up to 200,000 Russians on the Pokrovsk front,” said Hetman.

At the same time, the analyst emphasized that Russian occupiers are moving troops along the front line. The total number of their manpower is not increasing.

“This is an important point: their number of forces and means on the front line is not increasing. If it does increase, it is minimal, perhaps by 0.5-1%. Therefore, if they have significantly strengthened somewhere, it means they have weakened somewhere else. Or they have gathered a little from all sections of the front. Thus, they are moving troops along the front line. For example, in the Zaporizhzhia direction. To strengthen there, they have not pulled reserves from Siberia or the Far East. They are moving them from the Sumy direction,” explained the analyst.

According to him, the distance between the enemy’s pincers around Pokrovsk is currently about 15 kilometers.

“Plus or minus, depending on how you count. But the ring is not tightening. If the distance between the grouping of Russians decreases to less than 10 kilometers, to 6-8 km, then in principle these are the conditions described in military science and in combat charters when troops need to be withdrawn to prevent defenders from being completely surrounded. 6-8 kilometers is already operational encirclement. In this case, troops must be withdrawn, as the likelihood of complete encirclement increases significantly,” noted Hetman.

He reminded that hostilities on the Pokrovsk front have been ongoing for more than a year. However, even a possible withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the city should not be perceived as a catastrophe, the analyst is convinced.

“We hope that Pokrovsk can be held. We have been conducting combat operations there for over a year. But it is important to prepare morally and to calmly perceive information that if we do not have enough strength and means, it is better to withdraw and save people and equipment than to drag it out until the last moment and then retreat in a disorganized manner. An unorganized withdrawal of troops usually leads to a multiple increase in the losses of the withdrawing army. Therefore, extra 2-3 days in Pokrovsk will not give us anything, but if we withdraw in an organized manner, it will save a large number of people and equipment,” emphasized the guest of the broadcast.

In such a scenario, he emphasized, no “gates for the Russians” will open.

“There will be no ‘free zones’ there. If we withdraw to other positions, I am confident that they are already built and fortified. We have heard this, at least, from representatives of military-civilian administrations. Private construction companies were involved in the work because engineering troops cannot build such powerful fortifications on their own,” added the analyst.

It should be noted that in the past few days there have been 175 combat clashes on the front. In the Pokrovsk direction, the Defense Forces repelled 50 assaults by the aggressor.

Since the beginning of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, active military actions have been taking place in the Pokrovsk direction. Both sides are in a tense situation, and stable fighting continues without significant territorial shifts. Ukrainian forces continue to hold the defense and repel attacks from Russian troops, who also maintain their position. The emergence of new facts at the front may determine the further development of the situation in this region.