Ihor Romanenko, founder of the Charitable Foundation Safe Skies over Ukraine, general, and former Deputy Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff (2006–2010), shared his opinions with Espreso TV.“The semi-encirclement of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad isn’t a theoretical threat — it is, unfortunately, already happening if you look at the map. The key question now is how far the enemy will be able to push forward. The occupiers are trying to close the pincers around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. Another critical issue is how much capacity the Ukrainian Defense Forces will have left — both in firepower and personnel — to keep resisting in this sector, which has held out for a long time and worn down significant enemy forces. Still, the Russians are amassing troops and resources, which is why they are making gains here,” Romanenko explained.The general stressed that the situation around Pokrovsk will ultimately be decided on the battlefield.“In the near future, we’ll see what resources will be committed to this area and what outcomes that will bring. From a military standpoint, the situation in the Pokrovsk sector will be resolved directly through combat,” he added.Russian forces are pushing hard in the eastern part of the Pokrovsk direction near Kostiantynivka and from the Novopavlivka direction toward the Dnipropetrovsk region.On Tuesday, July 15, 171 combat clashes occurred on the Russian-Ukrainian frontline. Russian troops tried to push Ukrainian Armed Forces back 60 times in the Pokrovsk sector.