Ukraine’s military said in recent days that Russian troops destroyed or captured several Ukrainian positions near the city.
The fall of Pokrovsk, an important logistics centre for the Ukrainian military, would be one of Ukraine’s biggest military losses in months.
Control of the city, which the Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk”, would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture the city of Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.
Squeezing the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the vicinity would make it harder for Kyiv’s troops to hold pockets of territory either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to consolidate and advance the front line.
The city also hosts a mine which is Ukraine’s only domestic coking coal supplier for its once-giant steel industry.
Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest BV has halted some operations at the mine because of its proximity to advancing Russian troops along the front line of the war with Russia, an industry source said on Thursday.
