Small groups of Russian troops have pierced parts of Ukraine’s defenses in its eastern Donetsk region, according to local officials and monitoring groups, adding to Kyiv’s complications as Russia attempts to encircle the key strategic city of Pokrovsk.

In recent days, Russia’s troops broke through a segment of Ukraine’s defensive line near the city of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian stronghold in the Donetsk region. Russian forces have partly surrounded the city and are likely to tighten the noose around Pokrovsk to force Ukrainian troops to withdraw, a tactic they have used to capture other cities.