Ukrainian reserve brigades bolster defences to avert Pokrovsk fall

"Despite assigning a dozen battalions from eight or so brigades to their surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk’s Oblast, the Ukrainians seemed to have kept four or five brigades—each with up to 2,000 troops and hundreds of vehicles—in reserve," noted "Forbes" in an article on Friday.

"Some of those reserves are finally joining the fight along the last line of trenches and fortified towns five or six miles outside Pokrovsk and its vital supply lines. And that’s helping stabilise the front line—at least for now," the magazine reported.

"Forbes" highlighted the surprise of Ukrainian commentators, who blamed failures in the eastern part of the country on "lack of fortifications, rather than a lack of troops." "Not so long ago, there was public discourse suggesting that the deployment of additional brigades to the Pokrovsk direction wouldn’t make much difference. Yet, here we are, seeing that it does make a difference," noted the Ukrainian analytical group Frontelligence Insight.

The American magazine emphasised that no "immediate dramatic changes around Pokrovsk" should be expected at this time. "Ukrainian reinforcements are conducting small-scale counterattacks, the main effect of which has been to slow or slightly roll back Russian gains," it added.

The article noted that "Russians can’t afford to lose momentum. Every day they fail to advance is a day the Ukrainians can dig in and reinforce their positions around Pokrovsk ahead of the coming winter. That has implications for the whole wider war in Ukraine." "Fresh and well-equipped Ukrainian troops are in Selydove, and attacking, the Russian conquest of Pokrovsk—once seemingly inevitable—is looking a little less likely," summarised "Forbes."