The town of Pokrovsk and its 10,000 inhabitants (out of 60,000 before the war), in the Donbass, is on the verge of falling into the hands of the Russians.
On the spot, Ukrainian soldiers tried to resist, but lost ground.
LCI teams went to the site.
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War in Ukraine: a thousand days since the Russian invasion
A city on the verge of falling. South of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk oblast, Ukrainian soldiers are still trying to defend the town that the Russians are close to getting their hands on. LCI teams went to the field, to kyiv soldiers who continue to retreat. Andriy, 32, is the artillery commander of the 68th brigade. “Low ammunition is the biggest difficulty”he regrets (see video at the top of this article). “I would like more.”
“It’s sad that we’re going backwards.”
Suddenly, an alert is issued: a Russian shell has fallen a few hundred meters away. All soldiers must take cover. “Sometimes you shoot seven shots and nothing happens. And sometimes you shoot once or twice and you get a response right away.”continues Andriy. Their shots will ultimately have been winning. “Something is burning in the area”announces the commander. “Well done.”
A consolation prize for this brigade, while the front line continues to retreat in favor of the Russians. “We packed the bags and we moved”explains one of the soldiers. “But morally, it’s hard.” “It’s sad that we’re going backwards.”deplores another. “We are not experiencing it well. We are going backwards.”
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Further on, on the way to Pokrovsk, the soldiers come across new trenches that have just been built. “It’s good that they are building these defense lines, but we need men to hold them”underlines one of them. Because ammunition is not the only shortage for the Ukrainian army: the lack of arms has consequences. Since the filming of our teams at the end of November, the position has also been lost by the Ukrainians.
Great report to see in full this Friday, December 20 at 9 p.m. on LCI (channel 26) and TF1+.
