The Russians used the tunnel to break into the back of Pokrovsk.

Russian death squads used mining tunnels to infiltrate the city of Pokrovsk and launch a surprise attack from behind Ukrainian lines.

On July 31, the Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced that, after 483 days of fierce fighting, the Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) had finally captured Chasov Yar, a military fortress on the Seversky Canal defense line in the Donets-Donbass region. The battle for Pokrovsk has since become the focus.

The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that they had surrounded Pokrovsk on three sides and were in full control of the eastern outskirts of the city. Direct information from the front line on July 31 showed that Russian troops had penetrated and were fighting inside the city of Pokrovsk.

Many foreign media outlets even reported that Pokrovsk was completely under Russian control; but this was inaccurate information. However, under the pressure of the RFAF's offensive, the Ukrainian defense system inside the city was facing the risk of complete collapse.

In response to the above information, Ukrainian President Zelensky himself denied it, stating that Chasov Yar is still under the control of the Ukrainian Army (AFU) and any Russian forces entering the Pokrovsk city area have been surrounded and neutralized by Ukrainian defense forces.

This has led to significant differences in the battlefield maps presented by the Ukrainian, Russian and Western media. It must be said that Pokrovsk is one of the fiercest fronts since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. However, no matter how difficult it is, the RFAF will fight to the end, just as they did in Mariupol, Bakhmut, Ugledar and Avdiivka.

On August 1, military channels published a situation map showing that Russian troops continued to expand their operations in the Pokrovsk metropolitan area. The Ukrainian army failed to prevent Russian troops from entering the city and repelled the Russian troops that surrounded the city.

The map also reveals that the “Russian death squads” once again used mines and underground tunnels to bypass enemy defenses and strike from behind, just as they had dug tunnels to attack the city of Toretsk and used gas pipelines to raid Sudzha during the Kursk campaign.

"Pokrovsk lies in the middle of a series of large coal mines that stretch across the front line. We can see their watchtowers and ventilation shafts, but we cannot see the tunnels underneath. There are no maps, but they are the largest underground tunnel network in Europe," said a European media reporter.

Judging from the real-time situation map used in the above report, Russian suicide squads used mine tunnels to break into the city of Pokrovsk and then attacked from all directions, cutting off Ukrainian defenses in the city and directing artillery fire from behind to destroy Ukrainian defense positions.

At present, the AFU Pokrovsk Front Command on the Pokrovsk Front has withdrawn from the city; in the inner city area, only two brigade-sized defense units of the AFU remain, but foreign media estimate that there are less than 1,500 troops left.

These units had not yet received orders to retreat from General Syrsky (and perhaps they never would). Without reinforcements, the AFU had essentially abandoned Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad. Even without a sudden retreat like the Battle of Avadivka, the Ukrainian forces inside Pokrovsk would not have held out for more than a few days.

The Russian website “Military Chronicle” reports that on the right flank of Pokrovsk-Mirnograd, the situation is rapidly changing in favor of the RFAF. Despite Kiev’s ban on reporting bad news from the front, Ukrainian media are preparing Ukrainians for the possible loss of the city.

Ukraine's Deep State channel said that Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk have repelled 66 RFAF attacks in the past 24 hours. However, Ukraine's Muchnoy channel said that the situation in the Mirnograd direction is alarming, as Russian artillery is continuously shelling Ukrainian defense positions.

Currently, the AFU defense lines built since 2014 are being destroyed to pieces by Russian fire; in particular, the Central Enrichment Plant, a key AFU stronghold on the northeastern approach to Mirnograd, was severely damaged by Russian troops, and the railway station was severely damaged.

AFU intelligence also said that new units of the RFAF Central Group are being concentrated there and attacks are expected to intensify in the coming days, while there is no information about the rotation of Ukrainian troops. Although the reserves of the Pokrovsk Group are also being transferred, they are immediately put into the Russian "meat grinder".

According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the RFAF Central Group broke through the AFU defense line north of the town of Rodinske and cut off not only the "railway", but also the Dobropolye-Mirnograd highway. (photo source: Military Review, Ukrinform, Kyiv Post, ISW).

Russian troops attack Chasov Yar. Source: Military Review

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