Russia said on Wednesday that its troops were advancing north through the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, intensifying efforts to seize the strategic transport hub after more than a year of heavy fighting.
The Ukrainian military acknowledged its forces were under severe pressure in the city but denied claims that they were encircled. Kyiv said reinforcements and additional equipment were being sent to bolster defenses as fierce clashes continued in residential and industrial areas.
Pokrovsk, a major road and rail junction in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, has become one of the most critical flashpoints in Russia’s push to capture the remaining 10% of the Donbas industrial heartland, a key objective of Moscow’s invasion, now nearing its fourth year.
In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its 2nd and 51st Armies were advancing through northern Pokrovsk and “destroying surrounded Ukrainian Armed Forces units” in several districts, including the Prigorodny microdistrict. It also claimed progress on the city’s southeastern outskirts, saying its troops had repelled “numerous attempts” by Ukrainian units to break out of encirclement.
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“The offensive in the northern direction continues,” the ministry added.
Ukraine’s military, however, said Russian forces had made only limited territorial gains and described Pokrovsk as “a zone of fierce urban combat.” On Tuesday, Kyiv confirmed that special forces and new weapon systems had been deployed to the area to reinforce frontline troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week that fighting around Pokrovsk remained intense but insisted Russia had failed to make significant breakthroughs.
“The area remains under severe pressure,” Zelenskiy said, noting that up to 300 Russian soldiers were still operating inside the city but had “made no gains in the past day.”
Moscow dismissed his comments, saying Zelenskiy either lacked “an understanding of the real situation on the ground” or was attempting to “conceal the desperate position” of Ukrainian forces.
Satellite imagery and battlefield maps reviewed by independent analysts show Russian forces just a few kilometers from completing an encirclement of Pokrovsk, known in Russian as Krasnoarmeysk, while also pushing deeper into Kupiansk, advancing along its main access road.
Before the war, Pokrovsk had a population of around 60,000, but most residents have since fled. Local authorities say all children have been evacuated, and few civilians remain amid widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure.