Gun and drone street battles are taking place in the key city of Pokrovsk infiltrated by around 200 Russian soldiers, say Ukrainian defence chiefs.
Ukraine is rushing to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern city in the Donetsk province of the Donbas region.
After Vladimir Putin again snubbed Donald Trump’s moves for a peace deal to end the Ukraine war, Russian troops have renewed their attempts to take the key logistical hub, Kyiv officials say.
The 7th Rapid Response Unit of Ukraine’s airborne troops said that the positions in the city have been strengthened in recent days as urban fighting continues.
“The occupiers, who have entered the city, are not trying to take hold, but intend to advance further north,” the unit said in a Facebook post.
“In doing so, the enemy wants to disperse our defence forces and block land logistics corridors.”
Ukraine’s General Staff military chiefs said around 200 Russian soldiers had infiltrated into Pokrovsk in small infantry groups.
“Rifle battles continue in the settlement, UAV (drone) units are actively operating,” it added.
“The enemy’s attempts to advance deep and gain a foothold in the city are stopped by conducting counter-sabotage measures.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said that Russia has concentrated its main strike force against Pokrovsk.
“There is fierce fighting in the city and on the approaches to the city... Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to destroy the occupiers,” he said.
The Russian defence ministry said on Monday that its assault groups were trying to advance near the train station in the city.
Russia has been trying to occupy Pokrovsk, a key part of Kyiv’s defensive lines, for months, seeing it as a crucial point for its push to fully capture the Donetsk region.
Mr Zelensky, citing Ukrainian intelligence, told US media outlet Axios that Vladimir Putin had privately claimed that Moscow would capture the entire Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk regions, by October 15.
Over the past week, Ukrainian open-source mapping project Deep State expanded the grey area to the southwest of Pokrovsk and now shows around one-fifth of the city’s west and south as contested area.
Russia controls about 75% of the Donetsk region. About 2,548 square miles is still under Ukraine’s control.
Putin’s army is gradually seizing more territory in the Donbas, while suffering heavy losses.
British Defence Secretary John Healey says the Russian president’s war in Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has led to more than a million Russian soldiers being “lost,” killed or wounded.
The UK is urging allies to supply more long-range weapons to Kyiv to bolster Ukraine’s war effort.
Ukraine has sought to hit Putin’s war machine by targeting oil sites deep inside Russia with drone strikes, with some of these aircraft flying 1250 miles on missions.
Trump has floated supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, to force Putin to the negotiating table, but has not followed through on the plan.
