Pokrovsk: Russia urges Ukrainian troops to surrender to save themselves

Ukrainian troops have launched helicopter raids and counteroffensives to try and ease the pressure on a key eastern city, as the Kremlin seeks a crucial battlefield victory with the U.S. push for peace shelved.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian troops have launched helicopter raids and counteroffensives to try and ease the pressure on a key eastern city, as the Kremlin seeks a crucial battlefield victory with the U.S. push for peace shelved.

Street battles were being fought in Pokrovsk, a transport and supply hub whose capture could serve as a springboard for the Russian military to threaten bigger nearby cities. It would also hand Vladimir Putin new leverage at a delicate diplomatic moment, with the Russian leader set on capturing the entirety of the broader Donetsk region.

Putin's forces have been battling to take Pokrovsk for more than a year, but now appear on the verge of a breakthrough with the front lines in the city increasingly blurred.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Ukrainian troops should surrender to save themselves, claiming they were "trapped" by Russian forces in the city, which was once home to some 60,000 people but is now largely deserted and destroyed.

It said that Russian troops were advancing further northward into Pokrovsk, blocking multiple Ukrainian attempts to break out of encirclement.