Russian forces defeated a team of Ukrainian special forces which were rushed to the embattled eastern city of Pokrovsk in an attempt to prevent Russian forces from advancing further into the city, the Russian defence ministry said.

Russia wants to take the whole of the Donbas region, which comprises Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Ukraine still controls about 10% of Donbas – an area of about 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles) in western Donetsk.

Gateway To Donetsk

Capturing Pokrovsk, dubbed “the gateway to Donetsk” by Russian media, and Kostiantynivka to its northeast, which Russian forces are also trying to envelop, would give Moscow a platform to drive north towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donetsk – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Ukraine said that it had

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