Russia Still Hasn’t Reached Heavily-Defended Pokrovsk: Ukraine

Russian forces have still not reached the outskirts of the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian military spokesperson has said.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Why It Matters

Moscow has been battling towards Pokrovsk for months, with Kyiv frequently reporting the fiercest fighting along the frontlines to be in the area east of the city.

The Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk, close to the western edge of the Donetsk region that Russia has long wanted to fully capture, has been referred to as a “fortress” settlement, key to Ukrainian defenses in the east and connected to other critical defensive cities.

With under three weeks until President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House, both Moscow and Kyiv are throwing their all into putting themselves into the strongest possible negotiating position. Some officials in Kyiv and eastern Europe worry that a deal brokered by the incoming president could come at the expense of the best interests of Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank.

What To Know

Western and Ukrainian analyses show Russia has advanced south of Pokrovsk in recent weeks.

In 2024, Moscow broadly advanced at its fastest pace since the start of full-scale war in early 2022, although there were questions about whether it could sustain this pace when battling in residential areas rather than open fields.

Chasiv Yar sits west of Bakhmut, the Donetsk city Russia claimed in May 2023. But Moscow has struggled to quickly move westward through Chasiv Yar for more than a year and a half since.

Some reports in late December said Russia may have captured Kurakhove, a town southeast of Pokrovsk. The popular Ukrainian war tracking blog, DeepState, has assessed as of Thursday that Russia controls the town.

The Washington D.C.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said on December 26 that Moscow had “likely seized” Kurakhove after two months of more intensive attacks.

What People Are Saying

There are “no urban battles” going on in Pokrovsk, Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Khortytsia grouping of forces operating in the east of the country, said in remarks reported by Ukrainian media on Thursday.

“Russians have not reached the outskirts of the town, but they are trying to encircle it through neighboring settlements,” said Trehubov. Moscow is using drones to attack around Pokrovsk, the spokesperson said, adding: “Everything the Russian forces have right now is focused on the area around Pokrovsk.”

Rather than directly attacking Pokrovsk, Russia hopes to “bypass the town,” Trehubov said.

Russia is also contending with urban battles in the towns of Chasiv Yar and Kurakhove, said Trehubov.

Russia’s advances “will likely slow” as Moscow’s troops head further towards Pokrovsk, coming up once again against more residential and built-up areas, Angelica Evans, a Russia researcher with the ISW told Newsweek in August.

What Happens Next

Russia’s advances are likely to continue in eastern Ukraine, despite pledges from the outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration that weapons and equipment are being rushed to Ukraine’s frontline defenses.