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Pokrovsk became Russia’s main target after Kharkiv push failed.
After Russia’s Kharkiv Oblast offensive failed, Moscow began concentrating its efforts in the east, “throwing everything they have” in the Pokrovsk direction, President Volodymyr Zelensky told French media on July 30.
Ukraine’s military acknowledged an increasingly difficult situation in the Pokrovsk direction.
“Today, they (Russian forces) are concentrating the largest number of personnel, the largest number of weapons and KAB bombs, everything they have, in the Pokrovsk direction,” Zelensky said.
According to the president, Russia shifted its focus to the east after its failure to take Kharkiv, a major city in Ukraine’s northeast. Zelensky added that Russian forces also plan to advance in other directions in the east, such as Kostiantynivka, Toretsk, or Sloviansk, but at the moment, Pokrovsk remains the main focus.
When asked whether Ukraine will be able to prevent further Russian advances, Zelensky said that faster aid deliveries are necessary. He reminded that the Ukrainian military has formed 14 new brigades to relieve units at the front and to serve as reserves, but they are not fully equipped yet.
“What do you think, in your opinion: if three out of the 14 (brigades) are fully equipped, can (Russian advance) be stopped?” Zelensky asked. Ukraine’s head of state said that the second reason for Russia’s unrelenting push is that Russian troops are afraid to turn back. “They are killed if they run back.”
As the third reason, Zelensky named restrictions to strike deep inside Russia with Western-supplied arms.
“Russian positions are standing 30, 60, 100 kilometers (from the border), there are planes bombing us, multiple-launch rocket launchers firing at us, Grads, S-300s which they use from Belgorod,” Zelensky said.
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