In his nightly video message, Zelenskyy stated that he had placed Ukraine’s new ground forces commander, Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, in charge of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, which

Russian forces are trying to bypass the city from the north and south, but so far without success, a military spokesperson said.

The Russian army is strengthening its positions in villages around the key eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in an attempt to encircle it and lay siege to a vital transport hub linking embattled Donbas with the rest of Ukraine.