Drones are constantly flying around Pokrovsk. As the soldiers from the special unit "Typhoon" of the Ukrainian army, based 20 km from the city, tell DW, each of them has already been wounded - from gunfire, from grenade fragments. "I recently had surgery after a severe concussion," says Tyson, who serves in the special unit as an expert in drone control. The Ukrainians continue to fight for the city, which Russia has been trying by all means to capture since 2024. DW accompanied a special Ukrainian military unit responsible for drone attacks and defense.
Tyson told DW that while drones have revolutionized the course of the war, the fighting continues to be fought in the traditional way - by infantry. “The Russians operate according to a certain scheme - they advance in small groups until they have gathered enough soldiers to attack our positions.“ They have also used motorcycles or ATVs, even roller skates.
Who controls Pokrovsk?
For more than a year, Pokrovsk has been a major target for Russian attacks - that is where most of the soldiers are stationed. In December 2024, experts predicted that the city would fall within weeks, but the Ukrainians held it for most of 2025.
In early December, Russia announced that it had captured Pokrovsk - almost without fanfare, by the way, as was the case with Avdiivka and Bakhmut. Ukraine disputed this and released footage of its soldiers in the city. However, according to the American Institute for the Study of War, there has been no evidence of the presence of Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk since the end of January this year. However, Russia no longer claims to fully control the city, and Ukraine has not admitted that it has withdrawn.
Commander Tyson of the special unit "Typhoon" never clarified the situation: "I would tell you, but I can't - it concerns our security". In mid-March, a spokesman for a Ukrainian unit fighting in the region said in a radio interview that Ukrainian soldiers were still in Pokrovsk.
The threats come from both the air and the minefields
Whoever controls Pokrovsk at the moment, the clashes around the city do not subside. Tyson explains to the DW team that the threats are not only from the air - Russian drones regularly drop mines on the streets. Therefore, everything must be bypassed, even if it does not seem dangerous. But more than once there have been accidents with cars, after which the soldiers had to walk to a safe haven. "We had loaded the car and were driving back when two drones struck just a few meters from us. The situation was extremely unclear - some of the Russian positions were only two kilometers away, others 15. Russian reconnaissance was already on the spot. "We tried to hide under the trees until sunset," Obukh, also part of the "Typhoon", told DV. Another soldier - nicknamed Riba - said: "I last traveled four days ago and saw four new burned-out tanks and six pickup trucks."
Recently, the men have increasingly come across such sights: burned-out vehicles block the road or make it difficult to pass, so that cars become easy targets for Russian drones. And they still have to reach safe havens on foot.
Providing products and supplies, including cigarettes, is also a problem. Heavy-duty drones, which can carry up to 15 kilograms, are usually used for this purpose. However, no one wants to say how many Ukrainian soldiers are currently dependent on this improvised supply system and how many of them are in Pokrovsk.
Author: Nicholas Connolly