Kyiv (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Ukraine’s military said that Russian forces continue to launch attacks near Pokrovsk to avoid it from the south and disrupt supply routes to its army.
The spokesman for Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces, Viktor Trehubov, said:
“The Pokrovsk direction remains the hottest, and there the Russians attacked 34 times (in the past 24 hours) and tried to break through our defenses south of Pokrovsk,”
As reported by Reuters.
The occupation of the highway and rail hub in the eastern Donetsk area could create serious problems for the Ukrainian army on the eastern front and also permit Russia to reinforce and extend its front line to the west.
Trehubov further stated that Russian forces were attempting to block supply routes by dispatching small groups of soldiers to territories south of Pokrovsk.
“They (Russians) don’t go directly into the city because it signifies heavy urban warfare. So they first try to avoid the city and disrupt the logistics chains,”
Trehubov said.
He expressed Kyiv’s forces were operating drones and precision weapons to attempt and stop Russian troops from reaching their targets.
How have Russian attacks intensified in early 2025?
Early January 2025 saw ongoing Russian attacks and the critical stage of the attacks and military movement in Ukraine. From January 1, Russia made a significant wave of attacks across Ukraine via drones and missiles. On 1 January 2025 alone, Russia dropped 111 drones on different cities, including Kyiv, with a record of destroying 63 via the air forces while 46 others failed to hit their points. On January 3, a drone attack killed one person and injured several others in Kyiv Oblast, while 60 of 93 drones were shot down by Ukrainian forces in a follow-up attack.
How effective is Ukrainian air defence against Russian attacks?
From December 2024 through to January 2025, the Ukrainian air defence reported the intercept of more than 1,300 missiles and 11,200 attack drones in the previous year. This shows that there are high-intensity military operations and defence operations going on. The Russian forces have increased their efforts at attacking and or taking specific locations of strategic interest, thus attempting to block supply lines. According to reports, Russian troops are attempting to shut down the route to Kyiv by blocking routes via key supply points.
