Russia pushing toward Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast despite heavy losses, Syrskyi says.

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Russian troops continue to push toward the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast despite heavy losses, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 22. Russia is carrying out intense attacks in multiple sections of the eastern front, including in Donetsk Oblast, after it captured the city of Avdiivka in February. Earlier in July, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the Kanal neighborhood of the embattled town of Chasiv Yar, as well as from the village of Urozhaine near the administrative borders of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

"Fierce fighting" continues in Krasnohorivka and in the areas of Prohres, Zalizne, Pivdenne, and Chasiv Yar, according to Syrskyi. Russian forces continue their attempts to capture the settlements of Stelmakhivka and Makiivka and attack Ukrainian positions in Ivanivske and Klishchiivka, Syrskyi said. Moscow's forces are also trying to seize the islands of the floodplain on the east bank of the Dnipro River, the commander added, likely referring to the front in Kherson Oblast where Ukraine recently withdrew from the Krynky beachhead.

"In fact, active hostilities of varying intensity are taking place along the entire front line," he said. To stop the Russian offensive, it is necessary to hit their main forces and reserves from a long distance, as well as to conduct complex attacks at close range, Syrskyi said. It is also necessary to maintain prepared positions, maximize the use of all weapons and ammunition capabilities, especially combat drones, and take advantage of their use to destroy Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the commander added.

"This seems to be nothing new. However, this requires skill in the use of weapons and equipment, accurate and maneuvering fire, forces, and means. That is, high-quality training of all categories of military personnel to perform combat missions," Syrskyi said.

Russia's advance toward key eastern highway threatens Ukraine's grip of Donetsk Oblast

Outgunned and outmanned, Ukrainian soldiers struggling to hold the front line in a brutal, months-long Russian siege of Chasiv Yar are increasingly worried about their army's ability to protect their rear.

If key supply lines from the west are cut off and if troops to their south are overrun, they