Ukraine says situation in Pokrovsk ‘critical’ as Russia presses assault

Ukrainian troops fighting in the eastern city of Pokrovsk described the situation there as "critical," with fierce street battles leaving front lines blurred and control shifting block by block, according to soldiers and military analysts.

Local people look at a destroyed gas station at the site of Russian shelling last night in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, November 8, 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion.

Photo: EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

A Ukrainian soldier identified only as Andriy told Radio Svoboda that Russian forces were suffering heavy losses but continued to send in reinforcements.

"They just keep coming," he said.

Ukraine’s Chief of the General Staff, Andriy Hnatov, confirmed that assessment, saying Russian forces had lost more than 2,000 troops in the area in recent weeks.

Military analyst Oleksiy Hetman said Ukraine’s defensive positions in and around Pokrovsk remain intact, enabling troops to continue holding back Russian advances.

He cautioned against claims that the city’s potential fall would open the way for Moscow’s forces to advance toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, calling such assertions "Russian disinformation."

Pokrovsk, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, has become one of the most fiercely contested flashpoints of the current phase of the war.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 without provocation, triggering Europe’s largest conflict since World War Two.

(ał)

Source: IAR