He said up to 300 Russian servicemen had infiltrated the city.

Russia said on Tuesday that its forces were tightening their encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the city of Pokrovsk, a transport and logistics hub they have been trying to capture for over a year.

Russia‘s rough equivalent is its Kalibr missile, which it has frequently fired at Ukraine. Moscow has said it would damage relations with the U.S. if Trump greenlit the transfer of Tomahawks, and that it would be an “escalation” of the conflict because Kyiv would need U.S. assistance to use the missiles.

Moscow said its forces were destroying what it described as surrounded Ukrainian formations near Pokrovsk's railway station and industrial zone, and had entered the city's Prigorodny area and dug in ...