Russian forces are sustaining catastrophic losses, as they battle to seize control of Pokrovsk and the Donbas. Vladimir Putin‘s forces are closing in on the strategically important eastern city, after 21 months of bitter fighting.

Pokrovsk is seen as the “gateway” to the Donetsk, one of the two regions that make up the Donbas. Its capture would be a major blow for Kyiv, whose forces are desperately hanging on. The city is an important logistical and transport hub for Ukraine‘s army on its eastern axis, and its fall could undermine Kyiv’s ability to defend the rest of the territory it controls in the Donetsk region.

Fortress cities such as Kramatorsk and Slovyansk would become more vulnerable in the event of Pokrovsk’s fall to Putin’s troops.

Ukraine has rushed in special force troops to the besieged city to shore up its defences and attempt to push back Russian soldiers who have infiltrated its centre.

The Kremlin is desperate to capture the city, having planned to do so a year earlier. Putin’s commanders have been throwing wave upon wave of soldiers and armoured units at the city, but are paying a huge price in terms of lives lost.

DR. Jack Watling – a defence expert at the Royal United Services think tank – estimated that Russia is losing more than 20,000 soldiers per month on the Donbas defence line.

“Russia had planned to seize the Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk, a logistical hub in the Donetsk region, by November 2024,” he wrote in his latest article for foreign Affairs.

“Its forces are a year behind schedule. Ukrainian defenders, although vastly outnumbered, have fought tenaciously to hold on to the Donbas defence line, killing over 20,000 troops a month in the process.

“Now, Russia appears to be on the cusp of consolidating control over the ruins of the town as it pushes more and more troops into Pokrovsk’s shattered buildings, and Russian drones cut off Ukrainian defenders from resupply.”

Ukraine’s military chief Oleksander Syrskyi insists the fight for the city is far from over and that Russia’s army has not captured it.

“There is no question of Russian control over the city of Pokrovsk or of the operational encirclement of Ukraine’s defence forces in the area,” he said on Thursday.

The US think tank the Institute for the Study of War believes the fall of the city is just a matter of time.

In their daily bulletin on Thursday, their analysts wrote: “Russian forces will very likely seize Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, but will likely take more time and suffer more casualties to do so.”