GUR special forces land in Pokrovsk to take part in combat – Reuters
1 November 17:18
Ukraine continues to fight for Pokrovsk and “landed a special forces group from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry earlier this week” to take part in the fighting in the area, Reuters reported on Saturday night, November 1, citing two Ukrainian military sources, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
This happened “at a time when Russia said it had surrounded Kyiv’s forces in the area,” the report said.
Russian troops have been advancing toward Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, for over a year. The capture of this important road and railroad junction could open the way for Russia to further advance into the eastern part of Donbas, which the Russian armed forces are seeking to occupy completely.
According to Reuters, citing a source in the 7th Air Assault Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Defense Intelligence Service’s special forces “landed in Pokrovsk a few days ago in a Black Hawk helicopter” as part of an operation that was complicated by Russian drones. In a video reviewed by Reuters, at least 10 soldiers are seen descending from the helicopter into a field. The agency was unable to confirm the location and date of the shooting.
The Russian Defense Ministry claims to have destroyed the GUR landing party
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement a few hours later on November 1 claiming that the Russian military “stopped the landing of the GUR special operations forces from a helicopter in an area about 1 km northwest of the outskirts” of Pokrovsk. “All 11 people who disembarked from the helicopter were killed,” the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the situation in Pokrovsk, where the Russian army is advancing, difficult. According to him, a total of 170,000 Russian troops are concentrated in the area.
on October 30, Ukrainian Armed Forces Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi denied Russian claims that Ukrainian forces were surrounded in Donetsk region.
“The situation is complicated, but the statements of Russian propaganda about the alleged ‘blocking’ of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Pokrovsk, as well as in Kupiansk, are not true,” Syrsky wrote on Telegram that day after a trip to Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad.
An officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: No one is going to surrender Pokrovsk
“The Russian occupiers who have entered Pokrovsk are mostly hiding,” said Armed Forces officer Serhiy Tsehotskyi on Kyiv24 TV channel on November 1. According to him, these Russian soldiers are now waiting for reinforcements and assistance.
“They realize where they are. We hear this from intercepts, from what they are trying to convey to their main forces. They are not telling the truth either, because their task is to save their lives,” the Ukrainian officer noted. Tsehotskyi added that “very active measures are being taken in the city”. “No one is going to surrender Pokrovsk,” he assured.
Earlier, the Suspilne TV channel cited a source as saying that special units of the GUR entered Pokrovsk and “began clearing” areas that are “strategically important for Ukrainian logistics.” At the same time, according to a high-ranking Ukrainian Armed Forces officer, the Russians already control about 60% of the territory of Pokrovsk and are actively penetrating the neighboring settlements of Rodynske and Myrnohrad.
In turn, one of the Ukrainian UAV pilots who left Pokrovsk told the Ukrainian media that the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who are on the front lines in the city, are “basically surrounded” due to the constant infiltration and accumulation of Russian forces.
