Russian forces are stepping up pressure on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, with Kyiv warning that the fighting has entered what could be its decisive stage in a campaign that has
dragged on for months.
Ukraine’s military said on Monday that Moscow is attempting to push deeper into the area in a bid to secure Pokrovsk, a key logistical hub, as part of its broader objective of capturing the entire Donetsk region. Despite sustained assaults, Ukrainian forces say they continue to hold positions in the northern part of the city, as well as in the nearby town of Myrnohrad.
Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of around 60,000, is a major railway junction and has been the scene of heavy fighting since last year. If the city were to fall, it would represent Russia’s most significant battlefield gain since the capture of Avdiivka in early 2024. Moscow claimed late last year that it had already seized Pokrovsk, a statement firmly denied by Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine has struggled to slow Russia’s incremental advances not only around Pokrovsk but across much of the 1,200-kilometre frontline, even as Kyiv faces mounting pressure from the United States to engage in peace talks aimed at ending the nearly four-year-long war.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, Russian troops are attempting to exploit weaknesses in Ukrainian air defences, relying heavily on guided aerial bombs while using superior manpower to control key terrain, including elevated positions and flanking routes. The 7th Rapid Response Corps, which oversees the defence of the area, described the situation around Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad as increasingly intense.
Open-source analysts from the DeepState monitoring group reported that Russian infantry units had advanced into northern Pokrovsk and were pushing toward the nearby village of Hryshyne. Maps published by the group show most of Pokrovsk and large parts of Myrnohrad under Russian control, with DeepState describing the clashes as “the last battles” for both cities.
Despite the fierce fighting, analysts note that Russia has captured only about 1.3% of additional Ukrainian territory since early 2023. However, Moscow’s sustained aerial campaign has caused extensive damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent months, compounding the strain on the country’s defences.
Nearly four years after launching its full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Russia now occupies close to one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine seized before and during the war — underscoring the long and grinding nature of the conflict as battles like Pokrovsk reach a critical moment. Photo by Donetsk Regional Military Civil Administration, Wikimedia commons.