Russia is concentrating firepower and troops on Pokrovsk. After more than a year of fighting, Pokrovsk has largely been reduced to a pile of ruins. Its pre-war population of 60,000 has dwindled to fewer than 1,300.
If Pokrovsk falls, it would be the largest city lost by Ukraine since the fighting for Bakhmut in May 2023. It is seen as the last major obstacle preventing Russian troops from approaching Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the only major cities in the Donetsk region that remain under Ukrainian control and have long been the subject of claims by Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin, The New York Times reported.
Taking Pokrovsk could help the Kremlin spread the narrative that Russia is advancing on the battlefield and that the war will only get worse for Ukraine unless it agrees to Moscow’s harsh terms for an end to hostilities. Putin has ignored calls from U.S. President Donald Trump for a ceasefire, continuing his offensive on the front.
Ukraine is fighting to hold Pokrovsk in part to counter that narrative.
Beyond the geopolitical implications, the military significance of the loss of Pokrovsk for Ukraine may be relatively minor. Russia’s incremental successes come at a huge cost. Although Ukraine is seeking to hold Pokrovsk, military commanders say the heavy losses Ukrainian forces are inflicting on Russian forces in the area are detrimental to the Russian military campaign as a whole.
Ukrainian military personnel say they expect the war to continue in much the same vein: the Russians will sacrifice huge numbers of soldiers for minimal gains. According to a recent study, nearly one million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war - more than twice the number of Ukrainian troops.
Meanwhile, some military officials and analysts fear that Ukraine will again delay its decision to withdraw, as it did in previous battles in Russia's Kursk region or Avdiivka in Donetsk region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that its forces had advanced into the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and were fighting for every building in an attempt to push out Ukrainian troops, Reuters reported. Moscow says the capture of Pokrovsk, dubbed by Russian media as the "gateway to Donetsk region," will give it a foothold to advance north toward the two largest cities remaining under Ukrainian control in Donetsk region - Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. One of Russia's leading military bloggers, Yuri Podoliaka, said that Russian forces had taken tactical control of Pokrovsk, but that Ukrainian troops had built strong fortifications in Mirnograd. He added that Ukrainian forces were also trying to attack from the northwest.