In 2023, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had the opportunity to liberate Donetsk. Here's why it didn't happen (video).

In the summer of 2023, during the counteroffensive, the Armed Forces of Ukraine were able to enter Donetsk. This was shared with journalist Ramini Eskhakzai by the commander of the drone battalion "High Predators" from the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Yakov Handziuk, who goes by the call sign "Condor".

Initially, at the end of 2022, the Defense Forces faced constant assaults from the enemy, but by the summer of 2023, the tide of the war had turned, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to advance. During this time, according to him, it was even possible to see Donetsk from some observation points, but at that moment all forces were being redirected to the Zaporizhzhia direction.

"We could see Donetsk. It was very close," he recalled, adding that Ukrainians could realistically enter the occupied city.

At that time, he was confident that the Ukrainian army could even reach the borders of 1991, but by autumn, the situation began to deteriorate, and the soldiers' hopes started to turn into unfulfilled dreams.

He admitted that earlier Pokrovsk was considered a "very deep rear," where soldiers would go to rest, where wives and children would come, and where they felt very safe without any worries. However, the situation in the Donetsk direction was constantly changing.

It should be noted that currently there are no safe zones in Pokrovsk.

Additionally, the commander of the tactical group within the active operations unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, "Artan," Mikhail, with the call sign "Phantom," stated that the Russian occupation forces have intensified their activities across several directions.