MAJOR escalation in Russia-Ukraine war as Putin deploys over 170000 troops in Donetsk to capture…; Zelenskyy says situation is…

Russia-Ukraine war: In what could potentially trigger a significant escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow has reportedly deployed more than 170,000 troops in the Donetsk region in a major push to capture the Pokrovsk stronghold.

Has Russia surrounded Donetsk?

Addressing a media briefing in Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the situation in Pokrovsk “difficult”, but rejected Moscow’s claims about Russian troops completely surrounding the battle-ravaged city. Zelenskyy acknowledged that some Russian units had infiltrated the city, but insisted that invaders are being weeded out by Ukrainian forces.

“There are Russians in Pokrovsk, They are being destroyed, gradually destroyed, because, well, we need to preserve our personnel,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters at the briefing.

Since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, Ukraine has, in an effort to avoid troop losses, smartly pulled out of some places when besieged by Moscow’s forces, due to being vastly outnumbered and desperately short-handed against the much larger Russian army.

Why Putin claims Ukraine can’t stand against Russian superiority?

The siege of Donetsk comes amid US President Doland Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that his forces are making significant advances on the battlefield, while admitting that the progress has been slow and costly in troops and armor. Putin is trying to communicate to the US that Ukraine can’t hold out against Russian military superiority, and has also hinted at improving Russia’s nuclear capabilities, as he he refuses to budge from Moscow’s “legitimate” war goals.

Russian oil production hit due to Ukrainian strikes?

Meanwhile, Ukraine claims to have dented Russia oil production capabilities with over “160 successful long-range strikes” on Moscow’s oil extraction and refining facilities, since the beginning of this year.

Addressing the briefing, Ukraine’s Security Service chief, Vasyl Maliuk, claimed that in September and October alone, Ukraine conducted 20 strikes on Russian oil facilities, which he claimed had resulted in a 20% drop in oil products on Russia’s domestic market and temporarily halted the operation of 37% of Russia’s oil refining capacity.

“Clearly, we are not resting on our achievements. There are many fresh perspectives and new approaches in this work. These include new equipment, new combat units, and new methods and means of communication,” Maliuk said, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Did Ukraine destroy a Russian Oreshnik missile?

Maliuk also claimed that Ukraine has destroyed nearly half of Russia’s sophisticated Pantsir air defense systems, which have stopped Ukrainian long-range drones, and noted that Ukrainian strikes also allegedly destroyed the much-touted Oreshnik hypersonic missile.

He said that over this year Ukraine has destroyed nearly half of Russia’s sophisticated Pantsir air defense systems, which have stopped Ukrainian long-range drones.

According to Maliuk, the Oreshnik missile Oreshnik missile, touted at the end of last year by Putin as invulnerable to air defense systems and a game-changing weapon, was hit at the Kapustin Yar military firing range near the Caspian Sea in southwestern Russia, roughly 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

Notably, about a year ago, Putin had stated that the Oreshnik missile was used to strike a the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, months after Maliuk said Ukraine destroyed one of them.

(With inputs from agencies)