Ukrainian troops are now at risk of encirclement on the front line near pokrovsk the situation is critical said a Ukrainian military officer from the Eastern front to the BBC near the front line south of pokrovsk Russia's military strategy seems to be to encircle the city which is also a major transport Hub in the region the officer who preferred to remain anonymous said that Ukrainian military leaders want to hold their positions at all costs and this often leads to losses of troops and resources this is causing large territories to be surrounded by Russian forces one of them is south of pocr between Nevel hernick and crno herka we are not planning to advance towards the city of detet so why hold positions near Nevel when we are losing hernick says the officer according to him it is better to withdraw from there with minimal loss of resources and to hold other positions when the enemy has more troops and resources this strategy he adds is reckless some sources say that Ukrainian troops have now withdrawn from the village of Neville to avoid a possible encirclement this means that the threat of being trapped is less likely but officers on the front say that the withdrawal should have happened earlier Russian troops are now advancing towards kurakov a Town 35 km south of poos Ukrainian forces in that area confirm that fighting in their sectors has intensified recently if the Russians take it then it will be easier for them to attack pokrovsk strategic mistakes made in the past mean that there is only one way left to defend poov and to prevent the Russians from capturing the entire detet region according to the officer on the front line we need another bmit he says referring to the city in eastern Ukraine that Kev defended for nearly a year before withdrawing with the city turning into ruins the Russians would throw many troops into battle in this scenario and leave them to die there her