General Oleksandr Lutsenko has come in for severe criticism recently, amid reports Russian forces are less than two miles from the strategic city.

Russian troops are closing in on Pokrovsk from the east and south. After the capture of Shevchenko village just south of the city, Russian forces are less than 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from this key logistics hub sitting on the western edge of Donetsk Oblast.

Pope Francis urged Catholic priests on Sunday to guard against spiritual groups that stoke political divisions, speaking during a one-day visit to Corsica, the first by a pontiff to the French Mediterranean island.

UK Defence Intelligence has analysed the advance of Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast, specifically on the Pokrovsk front. Source: UK Defence Intelligence update dated 15 December on X (Twitter), as reported by European Pravda Details: UK intelligence reported that Russian troops have made new advances south of Pokrovsk,

Russian forces are now just three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the outskirts of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after making advances Wednesday, according to Ukrainian mapping service DeepState.

Russia's incremental gains in the Donetsk region, that have gathered pace in recent weeks, are shown in the latest Newsweek map.