According to Kyiv, the city of Pokrovsk remains a priority target for the Kremlin as Russian forces claim to have captured dozens of buildings in intense house-to-house fighting for this key eastern stronghold of Ukraine.
Pokrovsk has become the fiercest area on Ukraine’s front line this year. The ongoing battles for the city now resemble some of the bloodiest and longest confrontations of the war, notably Bakhmut in 2023 and Avdiyivka in 2024.
A week ago, Ukraine vowed to launch an intensive defensive operation in the area, while Russian forces claimed to have encircled the Ukrainian troops defending the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation as “difficult,” adding that about 314 Russian soldiers are embedded within the city’s districts.
Video footage provided to RFE/RL by Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Reaction Corps shows Russian soldiers in and around Pokrovsk being targeted by Ukrainian drones.
“The enemy’s No. 1 goal is to occupy Pokrovsk as quickly as possible. This goal remains unchanged,” Zelenskyy said on November 8.
Andriy Hnatov, Ukraine’s chief of general staff of the armed forces, reported that Russian forces have infiltrated the southern outskirts of Pokrovsk in an attempt to establish a foothold for further advances.
Ukrainian soldier Andriy confirmed to RFE/RL that Russian forces were advancing in the area, noting that the Kremlin’s efforts to capture the city continue despite a growing number of casualties.
“They’re using an incredible number of personnel. But again, dozens of Russians are being destroyed by the brigade every day,” Andriy said. “In the last four months, we’ve killed or wounded about 2,000 Russian soldiers.”
As Russian forces attempt to storm Pokrovsk and neighboring Myrnohrad, their objective is to seize key roads leading deeper into the Donetsk region and to open a route toward the Dnipropetrovsk region.
While the future of the front line in Donetsk remains uncertain, Moscow appears to be achieving at least one of its aims. Through combined drone and missile strikes on the cities, Russia has been depopulating frontline areas. This strategy leaves its troops with a clearer path through largely abandoned towns with minimal civilian resistance.
As a result, most residents have fled Pokrovsk, a former industrial city of 60,000 that now lies largely in ruins.
However, some military analysts doubt that Russia would be able to quickly capture the area and advance to neighboring cities.
Ukrainian military expert Oleksiy Hetman told RFE/RL that while the situation is becoming more difficult, Ukrainian forces still hold strongholds west of the city, which would allow them to repel further Russian assaults.
“No ‘doors’ or ‘routes’ to Slovyansk or Kramatorsk are being opened. That’s nonsense spread by Russian propaganda,” Hetman added.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-pokrovsk-donetsk-war-frontline/33584377.html