Russian Troops Approaching Ukraine's Military Logistics Center Pokrovsk

Russian/TASS military

JAKARTA - Russian troops are only 1.5 km (1 mile) outside the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, after Russian military units moved from the south.

Several groups of special forces have reportedly entered highways and train centers, pro-The Russian war blogger said on Friday, December 13.

Russia controls much of Ukraine and has made the fastest progress since the start of the invasion in 2022, according to an open source map.

Reported by Reuters, Yuri Podolyaka, a leading military blogger born in Ukraine and pro-Russia, said Russian troops are now only 1.5 km from Pokrovsk after being attacked from the south.

Podolyaka said members of Russia's sabotage and reconnaissance group, which were basically units of small special forces that broke through the front lines before the attack, were already in the city.

Another Russian war blog Boris Rozhin gave a similar explanation. Reuters was unable to verify warfield reports from both sides due to reporting restrictions.

The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that Russian forces destroyed or seized several positions in Ukraine near Pokrovsk. There has been no immediate comment from Kyiv on the latest developments.

The war is entering a phase that some Russian and Western officials say could be the most dangerous phase when Moscow forces move forward and Ukraine fire US-made ATACMS missiles at Russia.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov visited the Eastern Russian Troops Group fighting south of the strategic city of Kurrakhove, about 35 km south of Pokrovsk.

Lieutenant General Andrei Ivanayev said the Eastern Group had taken over an area of 300 square km (116 square miles) in Ukraine over the past month, the defense ministry said.

The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub for the Ukrainian military, will be one of Ukraine's biggest military losses in recent months.

Limiting Ukraine's military access to surrounding road networks will make it difficult for Kyiv troops to maintain pockets of territory on both sides of Pokrovsk, which allows Russia to consolidate and advance the front lines.

The city is also the site of a mine that is Ukraine's only domestic kokas coal supplier for the giant steel industry.