Russia captured Avdiivka in February 2024, and has been advancing west toward the strategic Donetsk settlement of Pokrovsk, not far from the Donetsk border with the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, in the months since. Pokrovsk has been referred to as a “fortress” settlement, key to Ukrainian defenses preventing Russia’s advance west of the Donetsk region. Anew map appears to show Russian forces closing in on Ukraine’s positions in the heart of fighting in the country’s Donetsk region, as Ukrainian sources sound the alarm over Russia’s advances on the eastern front. Should Ukraine retreat ?

