"Russian and Ukrainian forces are interlocked in desperate battles for control of Ukraine's eastern towns of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, which Moscow considers a gateway to the remaining unoccupied areas of the Donetsk region. On Sunday, Valery Gerasimov, Russian chief of staff, told President Vladimir Putin his 2nd and 51st Combined Arms Armies were advancing along converging axes and have completed the encirclement of the enemy in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad."
"He claimed some 5,500 Ukrainian troops were surrounded, including elite airborne and marine units. Russian military reporters contradicted these claims, with one named Military Informant telling 621,000 Telegram subscribers, There is simply no encirclement as the two claws of Gerasimov's attempted pincer movement were still several kilometres apart. On Thursday, Oleksandr Syrskii, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief, also denied Gerasimov's claim. The statements of Russian propaganda about the alleged blocking' of the defence forces of Ukraine in Pokrovsk, as well as in Kupiansk, do not correspond to reality, Syrskii said. The Russian reporter also thought it extremely unlikely that thousands of Ukrainian troops were trapped. If earlier urban battles were a classic meat grinder head-to-head' with battles for each house, he said, now they are conducted by small groups of infantry with the support of many drones. Geolocated footage showed that isolated Russian groups had entered western and central Pokrovsk on October 23, but they did not appear to control areas within the city, rather to stake out positions and await reinforcements."
Intense fighting is ongoing around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces push toward remaining unoccupied areas of Donetsk. Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov reported advances by the 2nd and 51st Combined Arms Armies and claimed an encirclement that trapped roughly 5,500 Ukrainian troops, including airborne and marine units. Russian military reporters and Ukraine's commander-in-chief denied the encirclement, calling the claims inaccurate and unlikely. Urban combat tactics have shifted to small infantry groups supported by many drones. Geolocated footage showed isolated Russian groups in parts of Pokrovsk while Ukrainian forces conduct defensive sabotage to prevent consolidation.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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