KYIV — Ukraine is rushing to strengthen its positions in the strategic eastern transport hub of Pokrovsk as about 200 Russian troops have infiltrated the city in small groups, Kyiv’s military said on Monday.

The Ukrainian general staff, which made the estimate of enemy forces, reported small arms firefights and the active deployment of drones. The Russian defense ministry said that its assault groups were trying to advance near the train station.

“There is fierce fighting in the city and on the approaches to the city… Logistics are difficult. But we must continue to destroy the occupiers,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday.

Russia has been aiming to occupy Pokrovsk, a key part of Kyiv’s defensive lines, for months, seeing it as a crucial point for its push to fully capture the Donetsk region.

Attacks Intensify as Ceasefire Talks Fail

Its forces have renewed their attempts in the wake of a failed push by U.S. President Donald Trump to secure a ceasefire, Ukrainian officials say.

The 7th Rapid Response Unit of Ukraine’s airborne troops on Monday said that the positions in the city have been strengthened in recent days as urban fighting continued.

“The occupiers, who have entered the city, are not trying to take hold, but intend to advance further north,” the unit said in a Facebook post. “In doing so, the enemy wants to disperse our defense forces and block land logistics corridors.”

Russia has concentrated its main strike force against the city, according to Zelenskiy.

Moscow Eyes Control of Entire Donbas

Zelenskiy, citing Ukrainian intelligence, told U.S. media outlet Axios that Russian President Vladimir Putin had privately claimed that Moscow would capture the entire Donbas, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk regions, by October 15. Reuters could not independently verify the claim.

The Ukrainian open-source mapping project Deep State in the past week has reduced the area to the southwest of Pokrovsk that it considers under Ukrainian control, increasing the area “requiring clarification” to around one-fifth of the city.

Russia controls about 75% of the Donetsk region. About 6,600 square kilometers (2,548 square miles) is still under Ukraine’s control.

Moscow’s troops regularly report incremental gains in the region but they have failed to secure any strategic breakthrough for over a year now.

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(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Conor Humphries)