Ukrainian commanders clash over claims of stalled Russian advance
“Yesterday, Supreme Commander Syrskyi announced that there is stabilization in the Pokrovsk direction, but if that's stabilization, then I'm a ballerina. The Russians are still advancing,” reported the commander of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Nikolai Melnik. According to Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Russians “have not advanced even by a yard” in the past six days.
The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced in his first interview with CNN that the Russian offensive near Pokrovsk has been completely halted. “In the past six days, the enemy has not moved even a yard,” he said on Thursday.
Commander criticizes Syrskyi
His words were responded to on Facebook by the commander of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Mykola Melnyk.
"Yesterday, the supreme commander announced that there is stabilization in the Pokrovsk direction, but if that's stabilization, then I'm a ballerina. The Russians are still advancing. The Russians do not have the strength to simultaneously attack Pokrovsk, Selidove, and Kurakhove, so they chose one direction and will break through our defenses," wrote Melnyk, whose group is fighting in that direction.
According to the commander of the 47th Brigade, among the Russians' priority targets are the villages of Ukrainsk and Hirnyk, and then Kurakhivka. "This is quite logical because it will allow them to encircle the group holding the defense between the village of Nevelske and the Vovcha River," he noted.
At the same time, the commander's post raised concerns. It indicates that the Ukrainians are at risk of encirclement. "The time to move brigades out of the encirclement without heavy losses has passed; now it will most likely be a scenario similar to Avdiivka, where the retreat was 'controlled' only in reports from commanders," Melnyk summarized.
The situation Melnyk describes is visible on the map:
Chaotic retreat from Avdiivka
At the beginning of February 2024, the BBC reached Ukrainian soldiers fighting near Avdiivka. Their accounts were shocking. It turned out, among other things, that the command rejected the soldiers' request to withdraw until they were surrounded by the Russians. Kyiv claimed that the withdrawal went according to plan.
"When the order finally came, it was already too late," said the soldier. In Avdiivka, the wounded and those unable to escape were left behind. "Leave them," Ivan Zhyntyk heard from the commander. The recording involving him went viral. Just before the Russians entered, he managed to contact his wife, telling her that he had been left to his fate.
In the footage showing the bodies of the fallen, one of the mothers recognized her son. "The Russians killed them. On the orders of our command," she told the BBC.
Pokrovsk a priority for the Russians
On Friday, the Institute for the Study of War announced that the Russian army has intensified offensive actions near Vuhledar in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, aiming to eliminate a broad bulge in the front line created by Ukrainian forces west and southwest of Donetsk.
According to the ISW's latest report, the Russians also aim to control route H-15, which connects Donetsk with Zaporizhzhia.
According to analysts, coordinated offensive actions ranging from the southern flank of the Pokrovsk direction to the western flank of Ukrainian defenses near Vuhledar aim to increase pressure on Ukrainian forces and continue to build up the attack on Pokrovsk, which is a priority for the Russians.
