Sam "Pokrovsk Holds" Kiley has been taken off the story over at the Independent. Alex Croft paints a far more bleaker picture for the Ukrainians
>Russian forces have advanced into the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Moscow has said, as it hunts for its most significant territorial gain in nearly two years.
>Around 100,000 Russian troops are circling Pokrovsk, a city that Russia has been trying to capture for over a year, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region that Vladimir Putin has long sought full Russian control over.
Circling? That sounds a bit like surrounding
>Kyiv’s military says it is pushing back forcefully, but battlefield maps show Russian forces are edging forward. A military analyst has warned that Ukraine will soon be forced to make a decision on whether to pull troops from Myrnohrad, a nearby town close to being encircled by Russian forces.
What?! You don't take the Ukrainian military's reports as gospel? Heresy!
>Moscow's military has spent more than a year trying to capture the town of Pokrovsk. Military analysts believe the town could be close to falling into Russian hands - and that thousands of troops in Myrnohrad could become trapped as a result.
The Bongs have dispensed with the softening up stage of reporting and are now giving it raw
>Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with Finnish open source intelligence organisation Black Bird Group, says Pokrovsk does not hold the strategic importance it once did, due to fierce fighting and significant destruction in the town.
Insignificant & pile of rubble, right on cue
>Mr Kastehelmi says that Ukraine has several options ahead of it - but warns that thousands of troops in the nearby town of Myrnohrad are close to being fully encircled, facing “death or capture” as the Russians “mop up the city”.
Mirnograd? Never heard of it
>Kyiv will face the difficult decision of whether to pull its units from Myrnohrad, a decision he expects it to leave to the “last possible minute”.