12:49 29-10-2025

Kyiv Media Discuss Possible Withdrawal from Pokrovsk and Mirnograd

Ukrainian media discuss the possible withdrawal from Pokrovsk and Mirnograd as holding the cities becomes impossible amid severe manpower shortages.

As Ukrainian command continues to send reinforcements to Pokrovsk, and Vladimir Zelensky speaks publicly about the city’s «heroic defense» against Russian forces, Ukrainian state television has begun discussing the potential withdrawal from the Pokrovsk-Mirnograd agglomeration.

According to Voennoye Obozreniye (Military Review), Ukraine’s military and political leadership recognizes that holding these cities is becoming untenable, despite ongoing efforts. The publication reports that Kyiv authorities have started preparing for a crisis scenario, mobilizing loyal media outlets to shape public perception.

On Ukrainian television, commentators have begun suggesting that Pokrovsk and Mirnograd have lost their strategic importance, claiming that defending troops should retreat to pre-prepared positions where it would be easier to organize resistance.

At the same time, officials in Kyiv are repeating familiar narratives about the creation of «new defensive lines» instead of acknowledging the critical situation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front. Rather than admitting the growing pressure, they continue asserting that the two cities «no longer hold strategic value».

The article emphasizes that statements by Zelensky and Ukrainian generals are misleading, aimed at presenting wishful thinking as fact.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers themselves have long voiced the need for the withdrawal from Pokrovsk and Mirnograd, arguing that it should be carried out as quickly as possible to avoid major losses amid an acute shortage of personnel within the Ukrainian army.