The city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region is a hotspot in the war between Russia and Ukraine. For more than a year, there has been heavy fighting at this frontline, which has shifted to the streets in recent months.

The Russians gradually trickle into the city, a drone pilot told DW; it was impossible to track all of them. The attackers, the pilot said, were looking for hiding places, waiting for favorable weather conditions and entering the city individually or in pairs, pretending to be civilians and remaining undetected for months.

"According to my observations, infiltration is the main problem. It's very difficult to determine who's the enemy and who's a civilian," said the reconnaissance officer, who is deployed in the region with his Ukrainian unit.

He told DW that the Russian troops were advancing on Pokrovsk with a large number of drones and glide bombs. Using drones, they were setting up ambushes, hampering the logistics of the Ukrainian forces and destroying any cover with their bombs.

Russian airspace superiority

Ukraine's military currently believes that Russia's army in Pokrovsk has a double advantage, both in terms of numbers and air supremacy. Ukraine is currently unable to counter the multitude of Russian drones.

"Because of the drones, we cannot move our air defenses closer to the frontline. Otherwise, this expensive equipment would be destroyed. And we don't have a sufficient number of aircraft ourselves to shoot down Russia's Suchoi bombers," one interviewee told DW. 

Consequently, the line of contact at the front near Pokrovsk is very long. The so-called death zone spreads out over 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). The biggest problem faced by Ukraine's forces is that the Russians destroy the logistics of the Ukrainian troops. This makes it difficult to deliver ammunition and technical equipment. The same goes for troop rotations and the evacuation of casualties.

Walking for miles to reach positions

"Logistics are still functioning, but it's very risky. Most units are advancing on foot. Some must overcome dozens of kilometers in order to reach their positions. Humanitarian aid is dropped by drones," another reconnaissance officer in Pokrovsk said.

The Russians are now advancing on cities like Dobropillya, Rodynske and Bilytske, which until recently had been held by Ukrainian troops. Military hubs and logistics centers were located there. The distances which Ukraine's military now has to cover and the time required for that purpose has increased, a female drone pilot told DW: "When the Russians began to destroy Ukrainian logistics routes, we felt that they were assuming complete air supremacy."

Now, fully armed Ukrainian troops have to reach their positions on foot. Ground robots were capable of providing basic supplies; they were, however, also targets for Russian drones.

A drone pilot with the Ukrainian National Guard deployed to the outskirts of the city of Myrnohrad also describes the Russian tactic of advancing in small infantry groups. In July, logistics were still functional, and all the essentials had been delivered on a daily basis. From mid-August, however, the drone pilots had to abandon their positions on foot and walk 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) to reach Rodynske. By September, that distance was already 30 kilometers (18.6 miles).

"Getting access to positions is very difficult. There are only one or two land routes left, and one of them is under constant shelling," the pilot said.

In addition, Ukrainian drone pilots now had to hold out in their positions for 30 to 40 days. Many refused to take up positions on the outskirts of Myrnohrad because they could be encircled by the Russians there.

What's the current situation in Pokrovsk?

Ruslan Mykula is a co-founder of the DeepState analysis project. The Russians were trying to get a firm foothold in the city of Myrnohrad in order to set up their logistics there, he said. This, however, would be an extremely unfavorable development for Ukraine. And without Pokrovsk, the Ukrainian forces would be unable to hold Myrnohrad, Mykula said.

Pokrovsk itself would then become the main base for the Russian troops. They'd advance to a terrain with high-rise buildings and densely built-up areas where thousands of soldiers could be accomodated. Simultaneously, positions of Ukrainian drone pilots as well as positions of Ukrainian electronic warfare and reconnaissance units would have to be changed to forest areas.

"The loss of Pokrovsk would be very painful, therefore I really hope it won't come to that," said a Ukrainian officer who is currently deployed near Pokrovsk. "Fortifications are ready. A fortress like Pokrovsk, with high-rise buildings, high ground and a lot of concrete is unparalleled. This city could, in principle, be easily defended."

There is no other city like it in the region. If the Ukrainian troops lost Pokrovsk, all deployed Russian forces could move on toward Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhkivka. Defending those cities would be much more difficult, the officer told DW.

A Ukrainian military expert who also wished to remain anonymous is convinced that the Russian leadership has ordered the army to seize the Donetsk region. The Kremlin, he added, wanted to negotiate with Ukraine and its Western allies from a position of strength.

"Pokrovsk is considered to be a part of that operation, in order to bring the highway connecting the cities of Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, Kostyantynivka and Pokrovsk under full Russian control. The Russians could then further advance toward Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region," the expert told DW. Seizing the metropolitan area of Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad was important to the Russians as a starting point for further advancement toward Pavlohrad, but also to the north toward Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. "That's why there's such fierce fighting around Pokrovsk."

In a DW interview, military expert Markus Reisner pointed out that the situation around Pokrovsk had been steadily deteriorating for weeks.

"Despite Ukraine's success in fending off the breakthrough attempt north of Pokrovsk, we are in a situation in which Russian pressure has increased to an extent that enables them to invade the southern districts of the city in particular," Reisner said. "We will, in principle, see the same development that we have seen repeatedly in recent months and years in the battle for important cities that we have already forgotten."

Moscow's troops have not, however, achieved an operational breakthrough, which had already been the aim of the Russian summer offensive.

This article was originally published in Ukrainian.