Reference News, November 2 report. According to Reuters, on October 29, Russian military bloggers said that the Russian forces are about to take the city of Pokrovsk (known as Red Army City in Russia) in eastern Ukraine. They launched a pincer attack, almost completely surrounding the city, while sending a small group of highly mobile troops into it.

Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, with a pre-war population of about 60,000. Most people have now fled.

It is located on a key road used by the Ukrainian military.

The only coking coal mine in Ukraine, used for its once vast steel industry, is located about 6 miles (approximately 9.6 kilometers) west of Red Army City. In January, Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest Group said it had suspended mining operations there.

Russia hopes to control the entire Donbas region, including Luhansk and Donetsk. Currently, Ukraine still controls about 10% of the Donbas area — a 5,000 square kilometer area in western Donetsk.

Occupying Pokrovsk, which the media has called "the gateway to Donetsk," as well as Kostyantynivka, which the Russian army is trying to encircle in the northeast, would give Moscow a platform to push northward, eventually targeting the two largest cities in the part of Donetsk that Ukraine still controls: Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russia has been threatening Pokrovsk for more than a year, but instead of launching its usual frontal assault as in Bakhmut, it has used different tactics.

The Russian army has used a pincer attack to almost completely surround Pokrovsk, threatening the Ukrainian supply lines, then sent small groups of troops and drones to harass Ukrainian forces, disrupt their logistics, and create chaos behind their lines.

According to Russian military bloggers, Russia's tactics essentially create a gray zone in this city, which neither side controls but is extremely difficult to defend. The situation in Red Army City is critical, and it continues to develop toward a point where it may be beyond recovery.

Ukraine has hastily consolidated its positions in the city. President Zelenskyy said, "There has been intense fighting in the city and on the roads leading to it... Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to eliminate the occupiers." (Translated by Liu Xiaoyan)

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