This article was originally published in Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Read the original article.
Ukrainian military authorities have insisted their forces are holding out in the front-line eastern town of Pokrovsk, while Russian and Ukrainian forces launched missile and drone attacks at various locations overnight from November 1-2.
As the fighting raged, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a meeting between the Russian and US presidents was "not necessary at the moment."
The comments, released by the TASS news agency on November 2, were the latest indication that Moscow is determined to press ahead with its nearly 4-year-old full-scale invasion -- despite US-led peace efforts.
"What is needed right now is very meticulous work to address the specific details of the problem," Peskov said, without elaborating.
See Also: US and China Set to Seal Breakthrough Trade Deal: Trump Hints at ‘Very Good’ Deal with Xi Jinping
His comments came as the General Staff of the Armed Forces Of Ukraine reported on November 2 that Russia launched Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 79 strike drones overnight.
A Russian drone strike on the Ukrainian city of Odesa killed two people. Another person was injured, according to the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Kiper, who said "civilian infrastructure" was damaged.
Ukrainian authorities also reported 5 people were killed in Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region, where power was cut off by the attacks.
Meanwhile, Ukraine hit back at an oil tanker and facilities in Russia's Black Sea port of Tuapse in the Krasnodar region.
Regional officials said that "fragments of [drones] fell on an oil tanker, damaging the deck superstructure. A fire broke out on the vessel. The crew were evacuated."
The site has been targeted by Ukrainian drones multiple times over the past year.
On the front lines, Ukrainian military authorities reported ongoing fighting at numerous locations on November 2. But much of the focus remains on Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces reportedly face some 170,000 Russian troops.
Analysts warn that the fall of Pokrovsk, which had a prewar population of around 70,000, could open a route west into Dnipropetrovsk for Russian forces, putting Ukraine’s southern regions at risk.
“We are holding Pokrovsk," Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Oleksandr Syrskiy, wrote on Facebook on November 1.
"A comprehensive operation to destroy and dislodge enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing," he added a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the fight for the mostly destroyed city “our priority.”
Following Western media reports, Kyiv confirmed that special forces had been deployed to the strategic city -- which had a prewar population of some 70,000 -- as Russian forces claimed to have encircled Ukrainian defenders there.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also claimed that its forces had killed all 11 members of a Ukrainian special forces team that had landed in the city from a helicopter.
The situation on the ground remains unclear and cannot be independently verified.
Estimates suggest that between 200 and 400 Russian soldiers are now embedded within the Donetsk region town’s eastern districts, using urban terrain, basements, and civilian disguises to evade Ukrainian detection.
Copyright (c)2025 RFE/RL, Inc. Used with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
[VP]
Suggested Reading:
.jpg){kind=link}