MOSCOW, June 18. /TASS/. The frontline situation in the Pokrovsk direction in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) is tense for Ukrainian troops and difficulties have emerged near Seversk, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Tuesday.

"It has been especially tense in the Seversk direction since the beginning of the day. The tense situation persists in the Pokrovsk direction," the Ukrainian General Staff said on its Telegram channel.

Ukraine’s General Staff has regularly mentioned the Pokrovsk direction as complex or tense in its frontline reports since May. The Ukrainian General Staff admitted in late May that Russian forces had achieved "certain successes" there.

On June 5, Ukrainian Army Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky reported about a tense situation in some frontline areas, including the Pokrovsk direction. After that, Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky admitted that the most difficult situation for Ukrainian troops had emerged on Kiev-controlled DPR territory.

Adviser to the DPR head Igor Kimakovsky explained that the city of Pokrovsk (called Krasnoarmeisk before) was the largest hub for Ukrainian troops in the region.