Russian troops failed to encircle Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk sector - ISW
Russia's advance in the Pokrovsk sector may have prompted the Ukrainian Defence Forces to retreat from some positions southeast of Pokrovsk, so Russian troops were unable to achieve their likely goal of tactically encircling Ukrainian forces in the area.
This is stated in a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Censor.NET reports.
"Geo-located footage released on 22 August shows that Russian troops have recently captured Ptyche (southeast of Pokrovsk) and moved further south of the settlement. ISW believes this confirms Russian claims that Russian troops had previously seized the rest of the eastern bank of the Karlivka reservoir in the area," it said.
According to analysts, the recent Russian advance south and southwest of the T-0511 (Ocheretyne-Hrodivka) road flattened the Russian advance east and southeast of Pokrovsk instead of creating conditions for a tactical encirclement of Ukrainian forces.
"Russian troops probably aimed to advance west of the Karlivka reservoir, from Yasnobrodivka and Karlivka to encircle Ukrainian forces east of the Hrodivka-Novohrodivka- Selydove line, but failed to achieve this," ISW added.
In recent weeks, Russian troops have also encircled Ukrainian forces as they advanced towards the E-50 (Donetsk-Pokrovsk) highway, and the threat of a tactical encirclement has likely prompted the Ukrainian military to retreat.
