Russian political analyst and former Ukrainian diplomat Rostislav Ishchenko has outlined the strategic importance of Pokrovsk for both sides of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

According to Ishchenko, if Russian forces advance along the Pokrovsk-Selidovo-Kurakhovo line, they will create a major breach in the Ukrainian defenses — one that, in his words, would be impossible to seal. Such a breakthrough, he explained, would lead to the collapse of Ukraine’s entire front line.

That is why, he noted, the Ukrainian command continues to hold on to Pokrovsk at any cost. The city serves as a critical stronghold on the broader Kharkov-Pokrovsk defensive line. As long as Ukrainian troops maintain this line, they are able to retain control over much of the left bank of the Dnieper River.

Ishchenko also pointed out that the concentration of Ukrainian forces near Pokrovsk poses a potential threat of a counterattack on the flank and rear of advancing Russian units — a factor the Russian command must take into account.

The capture of Pokrovsk and Dobropole, he argued, would secure the deep right flank of Russian forces all the way to the Dnieper. After that, the Russian army would be able to advance toward Pavlograd, Dnepropetrovsk, and Zaporozhye at a much faster pace. Moreover, it would open the way for a push toward Barvenkovo and into the deep rear of the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk Ukrainian grouping — the last major defensive stronghold of Ukraine’s forces in the Donbass region.

Ishchenko emphasized that if this group were to fall, Ukraine would have no other comparable defensive positions left. The loss of Pokrovsk and Dobropole, he said, would mark a military catastrophe for Ukraine — one that would immediately turn into a political disaster as well.

He added that the mere threat to Pokrovsk has already caused a visible decline in the West’s willingness to continue supporting Ukraine, arguing that «helping a corpse makes no sense.»