{"id":1254047,"date":"2025-11-16T12:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/?p=1254047"},"modified":"2025-11-16T12:32:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T10:32:04","slug":"russia-s-costly-assault-on-pokrovsk-brings-no-strategic-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/russia-s-costly-assault-on-pokrovsk-brings-no-strategic-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Costly Assault on Pokrovsk Brings No Strategic Gain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Kremlin sacrificed hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a symbolic gain, while Kyiv is conserving its forces for a long war of attrition.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has been trying to seize Pokrovsk for more than a year. It is one of the longest and most senseless offensive operations of this war. The Kremlin has thrown men and equipment at this sector with no clear logic or operational rationale, essentially repeating the tactics used in Bakhmut and Avdiivka: advance at any cost. Ukrainian units defending this area report staggering Russian losses \u2013 up to around one hundred thousand killed and severely wounded in the Pokrovsk direction alone during this time. This isn\u2019t just a statistic \u2013 it shows how badly Russia has exhausted its own offensive potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ukraine, Pokrovsk is a difficult but expected phase of the war. The city is important, but not decisive in strategic terms. For Russia, however, it has become an obsession, a symbolic goal for which it has paid an enormous price in manpower. This asymmetry has become a defining trait of the Russian military effort: human life is treated as expendable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in the\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Bohdan Popov<\/strong>, Head of Digital at the United Ukraine Think Tank, communications specialist and public figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, Popov argues that if a decision is taken to withdraw Ukrainian units, the logic is clear: preserving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. The Ukrainian army, unlike the Russian one, does not fight frontal battles \u201cto the last man.\u201d The command values living troops more than any single point on the map. Pokrovsk illustrates how Ukraine\u2019s strategy operates rationally \u2013 it does not allow Russia to grind down Ukrainian forces in places that offer no real strategic benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar decisions were made in Bakhmut and Avdiivka. Those are the places where Russia suffered its highest personnel losses of the entire war. Open-source estimates suggest Russian casualties in the assault on Bakhmut may have exceeded 70\u2013100 thousand killed and wounded, and under Avdiivka another 40\u201350 thousand. Russia \u201cchewed through\u201d these cities at the cost of its own offensive capability. Ukraine pulled its troops back and preserved its units \u2013 and that is what made it possible to hold the front in the months that followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, the author emphasizes that by taking Pokrovsk, Russia has gained control over the Pokrovsk mine and a large part of the Shevchenko lithium deposit, one of the most promising resource clusters in Donbas. Lithium is the key metal of the 21st century \u2013 essential for batteries, military systems and high-tech manufacturing. The capture of this deposit gives Moscow a chance to trumpet \u201cresource victories\u201d on its propaganda channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the real economic benefit for Russia is highly questionable. Mining in an active war zone, cut off from legal export routes, international markets, and under heavy sanctions, is not a viable business model. It is primarily a picture for the domestic audience. Moscow will not be able to legalize lithium taken from occupied territory. The capitalization of these resources is effectively zero, and their strategic value cannot be realized without foreign technology and access to global markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the expert summarizes that Pokrovsk may become yet another pretext for Russia to repeat the same approach: once again grinding down its own army for a few more square kilometers. Ukraine, meanwhile, is preserving the forces that will continue to hold the line and shape the conditions of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This war will not be decided by a single town on the map. It will be decided by the balance of forces, resources, and the ability to preserve one\u2019s army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia has already paid too high a price to realistically claim rapid dominance. Ukraine has kept the core of its army intact but urgently needs further reinforcement. That \u2013 and the West\u2019s speed in providing it \u2013 will determine the future of Donbas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article by\u00a0Bohdan Popov<\/strong><\/strong>\u00a0on The Gaze:<\/strong> Russia\u2019s Costly Assault on Pokrovsk Brings No Strategic Gain<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read also:<\/strong> Why the \u201cDrone Wall\u201d is Needed for NATO and Ukraine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kremlin sacrificed hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a symbolic gain, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1254051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[76,78],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1254047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications-en","tag-glavnoe-en","tag-homepage-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRussia\u2019s Costly Assault on Pokrovsk Brings No Strategic Gain - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/russia-s-costly-assault-on-pokrovsk-brings-no-strategic-gain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia\u2019s Costly Assault on Pokrovsk Brings No Strategic Gain - 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