Ukraine Strikes Petrochemical Plant Deep Inside Russia As Battle For Pokrovsk Rages

Ukrainian drones struck a petrochemical plant almost 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) inside Russia early on November 4 while the battle for the key Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk continued amid contradicting ...

Ukrainian drones struck a petrochemical plant almost 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) inside Russia early on November 4 while the battle for the key Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk continued amid contradicting official statements by Moscow and Kyiv.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on November 4 that its troops repelled 10 attacks by Ukraine's armed forces "who attempted to break out of encirclement in the last 24 hours in the northern and northwestern directions to Pokrovsk." Meanwhile, Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) said "a special operation in a key district, from the view of front-line logistics, of Pokrovsk continues, while fierce clashes with the Russian occupying forces are under way." In recent weeks, Russian forces have slowly crept forward on Pokrovsk's eastern and southern perimeters, seizing roads, slowly strangling supply lines, and pressuring Ukrainian defenses.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has acknowledged that Pokrovsk is currently the hottest area on the entire front line.

In a media briefing on November 3, Zelenskyy said that "as many as 30 percent of all combat activities are now taking place in Pokrovsk." He added that half of all Russian guided bomb strikes are now directed at Pokrovsk and hence "you can understand how tough it is for our [soldiers]" there.

Sitting astride two major highways -- one heading west to the Dnipropetrovsk region and the city of Dnipro, the other heading northeast to the railway junction city of Kostyantynivka -- Pokrovsk has been a linchpin of Ukraine's defense on the central and southern stretches of the 1,100-kilometer front line.

Ukrainian drones struck a petrochemical plant almost 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) inside Russia early on November 4 while the battle for the key Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk continued amid contradicting official statements by Moscow and Kyiv.