Russia amasses 1,10,000 troops around east Ukraine's ‘hottest spot’ Pokrovsk– why is the site important? All we know

Russia-Ukraine war: With Russia and Ukraine still at loggerheads with each other, the former has now amassed 1,10,000 troops in the vicinity of Pokrovsk as part of its efforts to take over the strategic eastern Ukrainian city, the Ukrainian military chief said, as per reports.

Moscow considers Pokrovsk a strategic target, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that his goal is to seize all of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk his forces partially occupy, reported CNN.

While speaking about the development, Ukraine military Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi further said that the area around Pokrovsk was the “hottest spot” along the 1,200-kilometre (745 miles) front line which runs across the east of Ukraine.

Why is Pokrovsk important

While Pokrovsk is not a key city, the ‘strategic site’ is located on a key supply road and railroad that connect it with other military hubs in the area. Along with Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, Pokrovsk forms the backbone of Ukrainian defenses in the part of Donetsk region that is still under Kyiv’s control.

Additionally, Ukraine’s last operating coking coal mine was in Pokrovsk wit a majority of its employees staying in the area to keep it going. After it was forced to shut down early this year, people began to leave.

When Russia was forced to abandon its plan to take over Pokrovsk

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based conflict monitor, said late last year that Ukrainian defensive operations in Pokrovsk have forced Russia to abandon its original plan to take over Pokrovsk in a frontal assault.

Some 60,000 lived in Pokrovsk before the war, but the majority have left in the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, reported CNN.

Russo-Ukrainian war

Russian drones struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, killing two people and injuring at least 17, Ukrainian authorities said on Saturday. 

Meanwhile, three attack helicopters and an anti-aircraft missile system were destroyed in the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, reported news agencies.

Ukraine's Security Service agency deployed special drones to attack the Kirovske military airfield, a Ukrainian security official said on Saturday.