Ukrainian commander disputes claims of halted Russian advance
"Yesterday, Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi announced that there is stabilization in the Pokrovsk direction, but if that is stabilization, then I am a ballerina. The Russians are still advancing," said the commander of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade company, Mykola Melnyk. Syrskyi says the Russians "haven't advanced even a centimetre" for six days.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced in his first interview with CNN that the Russian offensive near Pokrovsk had been completely halted. "Over the last six days, the enemy hasn't advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction. In other words, our strategy is working," he said on Thursday.
Commander criticises Syrskyi
His words were reacted to on Facebook by the commander of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade, Mykola Melnyk.
"Yesterday, the Commander-in-Chief and the Supreme commander–in–chief reported that there was stabilisation in the Pokrovsk direction, but if this is stabilisation, I am a ballerina. The Russians continue to advance. As I said, the Russians do not have the forces to simultaneously attack Pokrovsk, Selydove and Kurakhivka, so they have chosen one priority and are breaking through our defences," wrote Melnyk, whose group is currently fighting in that direction.
According to the commander of the 47th Brigade, among the priority targets of the Russians are the villages of Ukraiinsk, Hirnyk, and then Kurakhivka. "This is quite logical because it would allow them to encircle the group holding the defence between the village of Nevelske and the Wowcha River," he noted.
At the same time, the commander's post raised concern. This implies that Ukrainians are at risk of encirclement. "The time to withdraw brigades from encirclement without heavy losses has passed; now, most likely, there will be a scenario like in Avdiivka, where the retreat was 'controlled' only in the commanders' reports," Melnyk concluded.
The situation Melnyk writes about is visible on the map:
Chaotic retreat from Avdiivka
In early February 2024, the BBC reached Ukrainian soldiers fighting near Avdiivka. Their accounts were shocking. It emerged, among other things, that the command rejected the soldiers' request for withdrawal until the Russians surrounded them. Kyiv claimed that the withdrawal went according to plan.
- When the order finally came, it was already too late - said a soldier. In Avdiivka, the wounded and those unable to flee were left behind. - Leave the 300 (wounded) and burn everything - Iwan Zhyntyk heard from his commander. This recording featuring him circulated worldwide. Just before the Russians entered, he managed to contact his wife and tell her he had been abandoned to his fate.
In the recording showing the bodies of the fallen, one of the mothers recognised her son. - The Russians killed them. On the orders of our command - she told the BBC.
Pokrovsk, a priority for the Russians
On Friday, the Institute for the Study of War announced that the Russian army had intensified offensive actions near Vuhledar in the Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine, aiming to eliminate a wide bulge in the front line formed by Ukrainian forces to the west and southwest of Donetsk.
"Russian forces have recently intensified their longstanding offensive effort to eliminate the broad Ukrainian salient west and southwest of Donetsk City and advance up to and along the H-15 (Donetsk City-Zaporizhzhia City) highway," ISW assessed in the latest report.
According to analysts, coordinated offensive actions extending from the southern flank of the Pokrovsk direction to the western flank of Ukrainian defences near Vuhledar aim to increase pressure on Ukrainian forces and further develop the attack on the priority target for the Russians, Pokrovsk.
