Why the Russians Continue To Prove Unable To Take Pokrovsk

Hardly a day goes by without western mainstream media claiming that the Russians are about to take Pokrovsk - and, perhaps more importantly to their triumphalist Russian narrative, that the Ukrainians are about to lose it.

But the reality on the ground is that the Russian attack has slowed and even stopped, primarily because they do not have enough troops despite the claims that they are recruiting tens of thousands of men a month. Those claims appear to be gross exaggerations generated by officials desperate to avoid punishment for not hitting their conscription targets. And, again, counter to the popular press narrative, the Russians have, in fact, been forced to divert troops from this and other sectors to prevent further Ukrainians gains in Kursk. JL

Phillips O'Brien reports in his substack:

Over the last few weeks the discussion of the “strategic” city of Pokrovsk has quieted because the Russians have advanced incredibly slowly towards what we were being told was their great strategic objective. The truth is, the Russians don’t seem to have the troops to launch a major assault on the town. They have had to send forces to Kursk (which we were told they would not do) and they are trying to press other parts of the lines which are easier for them to attack. Over the last few weeks the discussion of the “strategic” city of Pokrovsk has quieted. Its because the Russians have advanced incredibly slowly towards what we were being told was their great strategic objective.

Here is the most recent Deep State Map.

And here is the map last weekend.

The Russians are a few hundred yards closer to Pokrovsk. Yet, you wont hear the press saying that they went overboard a month ago. The truth is, the Russians don’t seem to have the troops to launch a major assault on the town. They have had to send forces to Kursk (which we were told they would not do) and they are trying to press other parts of the lines which are easier for them to attack. It does highlight one of the weirdnesses of the reporting. Marginal Russian gains are highlighted as great successes, but when things don’t go so well, the press is quiet.