Russia enters Ukraine’s Pokrovsk after months of battle
The Ukrainian army said that Russian troops entered the city of Pokrovsk, the scene of violent clashes in eastern Ukraine, after months of attacks in the region.
The General Staff in Kiev said that several small Russian infantry groups had broken through Ukrainian defense lines and infiltrated the city.
About 200 Russian soldiers established positions and engaged in intense clashes with Ukrainian troops, in which both sides used warplanes.
While the General Staff described the conflicts as “extremely dynamic and intense”, Russian forces are trying to overcome Ukrainian defense lines with tanks and armored vehicles.
However, Kyiv rejected Russia’s claims that Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk were completely surrounded.
Ukrainian forces recaptured areas around the city, stabilizing the situation in the sector and on access roads to Pokrovsk, the General Staff said.
Pokrovsk and the nearby town of Myrnohrad have been under constant Russian attack for months and are under threat of siege.
Ukraine has been defending itself against Russia’s large-scale invasion for more than three and a half years.
Russian officials said air defense systems were activated overnight to thwart repeated attacks targeting Moscow, which forced the closure of two of the city’s four airports.
Russian defense units shot down 28 UAVs in five hours, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin of the Russian capital said on the Telegram messaging app on Monday.
There is no statement from Ukraine yet.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, said that he continues his meetings with representatives of the US President Donald Trump administration, who are trying to negotiate a ceasefire.
“We have been meeting with representatives of the US administration in the USA for the third day,” Dmitriev said in a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday. he said.
“Any attempt to put pressure on Russia is pointless,” Dmitriev said, adding that some forces were trying to disrupt the dialogue between Moscow and Washington.
Trump hit Russia’s two largest oil companies with sanctions on Wednesday in a sharp policy shift over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Putin on Thursday said Moscow would never bow to pressure from the United States or any other foreign power and warned of a “crushing” response to any military strike deep into Russia.
Dmitriev said that the Russian economy was in “good shape” with low debt and that this information should be conveyed to the United States.
The economy shrank by 1.4 percent in 2022, when Putin sent troops to Ukraine, but it later grew by 4.1 percent in 2023 and 4.3 percent in 2024, outpacing the average of the G7 group of leading industrialized countries.
It is estimated by the Ministry of Economy that growth will decrease to 1.0 percent in 2025.
“We confirm that the solution to the Ukrainian conflict is possible only by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,” Dmitriev said. he said.
via Reuters
