Why Does Pokrovsk Matters to Ukraine and Russia?

The city of Povsk is a transport and logistic hub that Russia has been trying to capture for over a year. Here's a closer look at why this battle matters to both sides. Russia's defense ministry says its forces are advancing in the Ukrainian city of Prosovk as it released video set to show strikes on a nearby village. The Ukrainian military response is that Russian troops do not have full control of any district in the eastern rail and road hub. So why is there a long-running battle for its control? Porcrossk is a logistics and transport base in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. Russians call it Kras Noarmisk, its Soviet era name. It sits on a key road used by the Ukrainian military to supply other outposts. It had a pre-war population of some 60,000 people. Most have now fled the city and its battered buildings. About 6 milesi west of Prosovk is Ukraine's only mine producing coing coal used in its once vast steel industry. Operations were suspended in January. Ukraine still controls about 10% of the Donbas region which Russia wants in its entirety. It's an area of just under 2,000 square miles in northern Detsk oblast or province in the Donbass. Prosk is dubbed the gateway to Donetsk by Russian media. Capturing it would give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian controlled cities in Donetsk, Slovian and Kromatsk. Here's Rob Lee, senior fellow at the US-based foreign policy research unit. >> I think Sylvian Chromator is really still the most kind of vital important part of Das Gobos for Ukraine to defend. It is still really the the the center for command and control for logistics uh and for you know for holding much of the front line. It kind of operates in these two cities. It would also give Moscow its most important single territorial gain inside Ukraine since it took Abdka not far from Pocrs in early 2024. Moscow has been threatening Pocrs since mid 2024. Instead of a full frontal assault, its military is gradually encircling the city, deploying small units and drones to disrupt Ukrainian military logistics before sending in larger reinforcements. Kiev says Russia's offensive has seen its forces sustain huge losses. Moscow says it is Ukraine with its much smaller population that is at risk of running out of men and that its own slower tactics are designed to minimize casualties. Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region last year which Moscow fought back slowed the Russian attack on Pocrsk too >> because if Russia continues to >> Lee says Russian infiltration groups have moved very deep into the city. >> To what extent they control this whole area is is kind of unclear but it is clear that um the last week or two Russia has accumulated a larger and larger force in the city. >> Ukraine has rushed to strengthen positions in Prosk. President Vladimir Zilinski described the fighting as fierce but added, "We must continue to destroy the occupiers." >> Lee says he believes Russia will want to capture Porc by the end of the year. You know, as long as comments are still in Ukraine's hands, it's still quite a ways for Russia to capture oldets region.