Russian forces captured and occupied three other localities in the Donetsk region, including Selydove, which has come under intense Russian pressure in recent weeks, according to the interactive Ukrainian open-source intelligence project DeepState.
In its daily update, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Thursday that the Russians tried to break through the defenses on the Pokrovsk front, particularly near Selydove, but were repelled.
Selydove was an important staging area for Ukrainian troops due to its location south of the city of Pokrovsk. The question is whether the Ukrainian military managed to withdraw from Selydove in time to avoid being trapped and whether this now frees the southern route to Pokrovsk.
Britain's Ministry of Defense previously said the pace of Russian forces' advances toward Porkovsk had slowed significantly since Moscow's troops stepped up their assault on Selydove in early October.
In its intelligence update, the ministry says Moscow likely intends to use the E50 highway – which connects Selydove and Pokrovsk – as a secondary route to advance towards Porkovsk.
The American think tank Institute for the Study of War noted that Moscow's focus on securing Selydove has come at the expense of Russia's ability to sustain a significant offensive on the city of Pokrovsk – the Kremlin's main priority in the region. The capture of this locality probably exhausted the Russian forces and reduced their combat capacity.
Military observers note that Russian forces have significantly stepped up their advances since September, advancing at their fastest pace in a long time.
Russian command likely ordered Russian forces to significantly increase the tempo of their mechanized attacks before muddy terrain conditions began to take their toll, the Institute for the Study of War suggests.
