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Russian troops riding on rusty motorbikes and on the roofs of battered cars stormed the fog-covered Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Tuesday — in a scene straight out of the post-apocalyptic “Mad Max” movie franchise, shocking video shows.
Footage from Russian war bloggers shows the reinforcements being sent to Pokrovsk, a logistical hub in eastern Ukraine that has been a target for 21 months, with the troops looking less like soldiers and more like marauders from George Miller’s 1979 dystopian flick.
The soldiers could be seen riding toward Pokrovsk in bands of motorcycles and in cars and vans with open roofs and missing doors and windows — all while covered in a heavy fog.
Some could be seen awkwardly carrying large rifles and rocket launchers as they dodged the debris littered across the road, with others casually sitting on the roofs of the battered vehicles.
Reuters confirmed the authenticity of the video, with the location matching the layout of the roads leading to Pokrovsk.
There are about 300 Russian soldiers currently inside Pokrovsk, with Kyiv’s soldiers currently battling the invaders under a dense fog and drones hovering overhead, Ukraine’s military said Tuesday.
After failing to conquer the city for nearly two years, Moscow is aiming to use sheer numbers to finally take the town, with 150,000 soldiers deployed for the final push.
The force represents more than a fifth of Russia’s roughly 700,000 soldiers in Ukraine, with Moscow aiming to fully surround Pokrovsk in a gambit to capture one of the last remaining cities standing in the Donetsk region, armed forces of Ukraine commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told The Post Sunday.
As the urban battle intensifies, Russia claims it has already taken 256 buildings in the city, adding that its forces are advancing further in and around the railway station.
Open-source battlefield maps show that Russia is attempting a pincer maneuver around Pokrovsk, with its forces closing in on the city center.
Ukraine maintains that it can keep the Russian invaders at bay, as it has done so for nearly two years in the face of Moscow’s meat grinder that has dispensed thousands of soldiers a week for only small gains.
While experts and analysts have contended that Pokrovsk has outlived its usefulness and will eventually fall, Ukraine is still committed to holding onto the city.
In a sign of the importance of the battle to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front lines near Pokrovsk last week, telling reporters that Russian attempts to break through had “no success” but acknowledging that “things are not easy” for his own forces.
Zelensky said on Tuesday that the city remains the nation’s main focus as his forces prepare to meet with the latest wave of Russian soldiers.
“The situation there remains difficult, in part because of weather conditions that favor the attacks,” Zelensky wrote on X.
“But we continue to destroy the occupier, and I thank every one of our units, every warrior involved in defending Ukraine’s positions.
With Post wires
