The Kremlin’s claims of full control over Pokrovsk are false: Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold the northern part of the city

Claims by the occupying forces that they have established full control over Pokrovsk do not correspond to reality. The heaviest enemy activity is currently recorded in the areas of Shakhove, Rodynske, Myrnohrad, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetske, and toward Novopavlivka—evidence that active fighting continues and that the city remains contested.

The situation in Pokrovsk should not be framed as a tragedy or a localized defeat. The key issue is that the occupiers are attempting to create conditions for the operational encirclement of Ukrainian units. To prevent precisely such scenarios—capture or mass casualties among personnel—command decisions are being taken to withdraw to pre-prepared defensive positions.

As previously reported, Ukrainian Defence Forces have pulled back from certain positions near Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, including the villages of Sukhyi Yar and Lisivka, thereby reducing the risk of encirclement.

Several positions located 5–7 kilometres from Pokrovsk were abandoned after enemy penetration made further defence impractical. Russian forces concentrated in the Pokrovsk sector now exceed 155,000 personnel, and this direction accounts for approximately 40–50 percent of all cluster munitions used along the front.

It is no secret that the occupiers have achieved limited tactical gains in the Pokrovsk area. However, claims by Russian occupation forces of “complete control” over the city are false. Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to hold positions near high-rise residential areas, and fighting persists in the industrial zone.

Combat in Pokrovsk is concentrated primarily in the northern part of the city and its surrounding areas, particularly in the Hryshyne and Rivne districts. Despite the difficult situation, Russian forces do not have full control over the city.

The combat zone remains extremely dense: in some areas, the distance between Ukrainian and enemy positions is as little as 200 meters. Logistics are severely complicated and are sustained primarily through nighttime reconnaissance and observation teams, as well as heavy drone support.

According to Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrainian troops have regained control of approximately 13 kilometres of Pokrovsk’s northern sector, out of a total city perimeter of about 29 kilometres. Syrskyi emphasized that the number of Ukrainian units operating in this area will be gradually increased.

The occupiers are attempting to exploit adverse weather conditions. They have deployed armoured vehicles, light vehicles, and motorcycles to assault Ukrainian defensive positions. Enemy columns have repeatedly tried to break through from the south toward the northern part of the city.

Units of Russia’s 76th Pskov Airborne Assault Division are involved in the assault on Pokrovsk.

The very fact that these units have been redeployed is telling: it indicates that the Russian occupation forces have virtually no operational reserves left. Despite their numerical superiority in both the Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk sectors, the occupiers are forced to commit their most combat-capable formations as assault troops and ad-hoc reserves — a clear sign of systemic depletion.

Meanwhile, units operating in the defensive zone of the 7th Corps, anticipating an enemy assault, repelled the attack in a coordinated manner. The 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade, named after Oleksa Dovbush, destroyed the first Russian armoured vehicle. Subsequently, other units, including artillery, engaged and continued to eliminate enemy equipment and personnel.

Taras Myshak, Senior Communications Officer of the 59th Separate Assault Brigade of Unmanned Systems, noted that the enemy is deliberately sending “disposable” soldiers forward to identify Ukrainian defensive positions.

It is also important to note that approximately 60% of Myrnohrad remains under the control of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. What is currently unfolding in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad is effectively exhausting the occupation army’s most combat-ready units.

Maintaining a Ukrainian presence in Pokrovsk is critical primarily for the negotiation process. Control over the Pokrovsk agglomeration significantly increases Ukraine’s leverage and agency in any future negotiations.
As a reminder, the General Staff reported that units of the Ukrainian Defence Forces continue to hold difficult sections of the front – Pokrovsk, Vovchansk, and Kupyansk – and that Russian claims of “capturing” these cities do not correspond to reality.