Zelensky sacrificing troops in Pokrovsk & ....? Ukraine faces reality check amid Russian pressure

Ukrainian civil organizations and military analysts have urged the country’s leadership to pull back its forces from Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) before Russian troops complete their encirclement, the *Financial Times* reported on Tuesday. According to the report, many insiders doubt Kyiv’s ability to hold the city, located in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, citing severe manpower shortages and growing exhaustion among Ukrainian soldiers.