Russian forces are reportedly nearing control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after surrounding it in a pincer movement, with small, fast-moving units said to have entered parts of the city, according to Russian military bloggers.

Pokrovsk is a road and rail hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region with a pre-war population of some 60,000 people. Most people have now fled, all children have been evacuated and few civilians remain.

It lies on a key road which has been used by the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine’s only mine producing coking coal – used in its once vast steel industry – is around six miles (10 km) west of Pokrovsk. Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest said in January it had suspended mining operations there.

A technical university in Pokrovsk, the region’s largest and

See Full Page