Ukraine and Russia look to break deadlock in battle for Pokrovsk
A critical moment for the future of Ukraine’s Donetsk region is approaching as the battle for the city of Pokrovsk reaches a key stage, with Russian and Ukrainian forces so enmeshed that in some cases they are vying for control of the same residential building.
But far from the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, Pokrovsk is also critical to a diplomatic struggle, as both Russia and Ukraine attempt to convince US President Donald Trump that they have the upper hand in the fighting and the other side is weaker.
Russia says its forces have surrounded Pokrovsk and thwarted a Ukrainian operation to reopen logistics lines into the city.
Ukraine denies there’s a blockade, describing the fighting as ongoing, with its forces inflicting heavy Russian losses.
Russian forces entered Pokrovsk last month, taking advantage of gaps in Ukrainian defences to slip through the lines, and appear poised to seize all of it in the coming weeks or months, experts say.
Ukrainian commanders on the ground admit the outlook is bleak.
“As of now there are no clear lines of defence, none that can obstruct soldiers from coming into the city,” said Serhii Filimonov, a commander of Ukraine’s Wolves of Da Vinci battalion.
In an interview last week, he estimated the Russians control more than 70% of Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday admitted Ukraine is in a difficult situation.
“The enemy began assault operations on the 5th (of November) and has continued conducting assaults … They have lost equipment, but the enemy’s number-one goal is to occupy Pokrovsk as quickly as possible. That goal remains,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
Russia’s recent success in Pokrovsk is the result of more than a year of grinding battles in which its forces advanced 24 miles, according to calculations by the US-based Institute for the Study of War.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine disclose their casualty figures comprehensively, but analysts say that thousands of soldiers have been killed.
The operation progressed, metre by metre, until last month when Russian assault groups overcame worn-down Ukrainian defences.
In response, Ukraine deployed its elite units, launching a special operation last week to counter potential advances.
Commanders warn that the intense street-to-street fighting is reaching a critical point.
Pokrovsk sits along the eastern front line, part of what has been dubbed the “fortress belt” of Donetsk, a line of heavily fortified cities crucial to Ukraine’s defence of the region, including Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhkivka.
Pokrovsk, which had a prewar population of 60,000, once served as a crucial logistics hub for Ukrainian forces.
However, Russia used its artillery to establish an advantage over key routes, denying Ukrainian forces the ability to move freely, conduct evacuations and ferry in supplies.
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