AFP news agency found that Ukraine lost some 200 square kilometers of territory to Russian advances in July. It's adding greatly to the immense pressure already felt by Ukraine's armed forces. To call Turetsk a ghost town would be too generous.
Only a skeleton is left and a brigade of Ukrainian troops to defend it. Russia has intensified its attacks in this direction in recent weeks, presumably with the goal of taking the town. Although virtually all of its inhabitants have already left, capturing Turetsk would be a strategic win for Moscow. It's a logistics center for Ukraine and sits on elevated ground.
After a Ukrainian counter-offensive stalled this past winter, Russia's military has renewed its offensive in the Donbass, focusing in the past months on two strongholds, Turetsk and Pokrovsk, small but strategic towns north and northwest of Donetsk. Russia claims it has taken control of six villages along this roughly 60 kilometers of front line in the past few months. Pokrovsk has not been evacuated.
In fact, many families have arrived there recently as they flee Russian troops just 20 kilometers away. Some of these people are from Turetsk, others from Hrodivka, a town east of Pokrovsk. The front line is getting closer to us.
Rodivka is on the front line now. We were told by the soldiers, the front line is here. Many people are fleeing.
People are leaving every day. They worry they might have to move again if Ukrainian troops can't hold the line. attacks in Pokrovsk are increasing. An S-300 missile left the local university in ruins.
Few analysts believe Russia is on the verge of a significant breakthrough, but recent advances have been devastating for Ukrainians in the region and disheartening for an already battered and exhausted army. Let's bring in Marina Marina from the War Studies Department at King's College London for more. Welcome. So Russia on the offensive in the Donbass.
We heard there its sights set on the towns of Pokrovsk and Turetsk. How do these factor into Russia's strategy? Good morning, Claire. Well, we have to go back a little bit.
And we'll recall in my previous interviews, I said that Avdiivka was strategically important. So when talking about Avdiivka and then looking... at Russian movement towards Ocheretyne, that enabled them to go towards Pokrovsk.
And the reason for Pokrovsk is that it's a logistical node. There is a railway, if we look at the map, so logistically it is important, and it is an enabler for Russian operations. If we look further at the map, we will see that that will facilitate the Russian advance on Chassivyar and we already know we have fights in Chassivyar and also the ultimate aim of taking Slovansk and Kramatorsk.
But in order to do that you cannot overstretch your logistics and you need to cut off the logistics of your adversary that is the Ukrainian forces. In Turetsk it's a similar situation and interestingly enough this town hasn't been attacked by the Russians since 2015. So it was a stronghold for the Ukrainian forces. And now we're seeing movements of the Russians coming from the direction of New York, which is south of Turetsk.
And so they are trying to create sort of a castle for the Ukrainian forces, again, to cut off their logistics. And so in terms of logistics, these two cities are very important. Marina, I'd love if you could broaden this out. A little bit for us and tell us at this stage in the war, what kind of pressure Ukraine is under and how well they have been able to cope with it.
Well, I think what we have been seeing and what has been described as a Russian offensive in Kharkiv created a very problematic situation for the Ukrainian armed forces because the idea was to overstretch them and to make the Ukrainian forces guess where the Russian attack would be. be. And so the Russians managed to create many pressure points along the line of contact.
Therefore, the expectation was that the offensive would be in Kharkiv. Therefore, Ukrainian forces were deployed to Kharkiv. And we're seeing that actually the main activities are somewhere else.
So the Ukrainian forces are, of course, overstretched. They are exhausted and we also know about the problems with artillery shells and shortages in personnel. So right now the situation is very difficult and Kirill Budanov was predicting that it would last until July.
We're seeing that it hasn't ended it. Marina, thank you so much. Stay with us for just a moment.
I'd like to turn briefly now to talk about some of the losses that Ukraine is suffering, holding back these Russian attacks. We know finding replacements has been proving difficult. Those who've chosen to go fight are already doing so. So Ukraine recruiting men against their will.
We have this report now from our correspondent, Max Tsander. Alexei was an infantry soldier. but was wounded in combat.
Now he works these checkpoints, making sure men of fighting age have registered with the authorities. My whole family is fighting. My brother was with me, my father is fighting, my uncle is fighting. So I don't think much of such people.
I don't understand them at all. This morning is quiet. A few like this man get summons because they're not fully registered.
I have to pass a military medical board so that they confirm whether I am fit or not. Not all drafting operations run so smoothly. Videos like this, shared on social media, are said to show recruitment officials using force. People swap stories of men being dragged off the streets.
And while we cannot verify these pictures, they contribute to fear of the moment. mobilization drive. An army spokeswoman says such incidents are being exaggerated. The country is under martial law. As for violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as highlighted by lawyers, namely detention forcibly bringing them in, these actions are now legal.
In other words, the mobilization is going lawfully and orderly. Anton is worried about being forced to fight. I have friends who have not left their apartments since the beginning of the war.
They are scared. Everyone is scared. Anton is planning to escape.
Today there are not many ways to cross the border. In any case, it costs money, and a lot of it. Those who have connections and money can escape officially, legally. Those who have no connections but have some money, they have to run or swim. He knows someone who can help and has sold everything he had to raise the $10,000 bribe.
When you put life on the scale, nothing can outweigh it. You simply change it. choose life and nothing else matters.
The soldiers hunting for draft dodgers have found a peculiar case. This man is a reserve officer. Under martial law, he should have signed up already.
He didn't, but claims he helps the armed forces as a volunteer. Well, I'll go. I'll go, just go where I need to, not where they tell me.
I'll go myself. I will fight, just not with the kind of chaos that they arrange. There's not much understanding for that approach here.
Not everyone can be a volunteer, especially an officer who took the oath and has to protect the country. Although the actual fighting is far away, it echoes along the way. this quiet road. Without new soldiers, Ukraine will not survive.
Let's turn back to Marina Maron for some context here. Marina, why are people like those we've just seen in that report increasingly unwilling to fight for Ukraine? well it's a difficult problem which has different reasons for one the people are war wary the armed forces of ukraine have suffered many setbacks and i think the counter-offensive the failed counter-offensive of last year was very telling, and that diminished the morale and the wish to go and fight. And the other problem, of course, you need to train these soldiers, you need to pay them, you need to give them kit, knowing that they are not going to have enough artillery rounds to fight off the Russians.
So essentially, if we remember the fight for Bakhmut, where people were dying when Wagner was there. Seeing those kinds of situations, people of course are afraid and don't want to fight. And so you have this kind of issue where you have a collapsing economy, and then you have people who really don't want to fight, and you still send them to the front. And General Zulusny was very clear that yes, the Ukrainian armed forces need people, but those who don't want to fight actually demoralize the rest of the troops.
it is in a way counterproductive. So that is a dilemma. And if you send everybody to fight, again, who is going to pay taxes and keep the economy alive, which is already in shambles?
So it's quite a huge problem for Ukraine. Marina, thank you, as always, for your analysis. That is Marina Marina from the War Studies Department at King's College, London.