Street fighting with Putin's troops Ukrainian soldiers threatened with encirclement in Pokrovsk
The Russian advance in eastern Ukraine is progressing slowly. But the Ukrainian army has repeatedly had to evacuate cities. Now the next one could be about to fall. The situation in Pokrovsk is dramatic.
29.10.2025, 18:42
29.10.2025, 18:56
dpa
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- The Ukrainian army is coming under increasing pressure in the hard-fought mining town of Pokrovsk.
- More and more Russian soldiers are entering the center from the south.
- With around 11,000 men, the Russian army is trying to close a pocket near Pokrovsk.
- The Russian army has been slowly advancing in the Donbass since fall 2023. However, it is gaining ground at the cost of heavy losses.
The situation in the eastern city of Pokrovsk, which has been defended for more than a year, is becoming increasingly precarious for the Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers are unanimous in reporting that more and more Russian soldiers are entering the center of the mining town from the south. The Russians are engaging in street battles with Ukrainian troops and fighting their supply routes with drones and mortars, wrote the Ukrainian military blog "DeepState".
Russians attempt encirclement with 11,000 soldiers
Pokrovsk in the Donbass industrial region had around 60,000 inhabitants before the war. The city is now heavily destroyed. The Russian advance also makes the defense of an eastern Ukrainian bridgehead around the city of Myrnohrad almost impossible.
With around 11,000 troops, the Russian army is attempting to close a pocket near Pokrovsk, the 7th Corps of the Ukrainian army announced on Facebook.
The Russian army has been slowly advancing on the front in eastern Ukraine since fall 2023. It is buying the territorial gains with high losses.
Around a fifth of Ukraine is under Russian occupation, including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014. However, according to calculations by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian troops captured just 0.6 percent of Ukraine's territory during the fighting this year.
Putin visits wounded soldiers
Meanwhile, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who ordered the war, visited a military hospital in Moscow. The situation in the combat zone is favorable for Russia, he said there according to Kremlin sources. Russian troops were advancing everywhere.
"Your efforts are not in vain," he told the wounded soldiers. While Russia actually has an advantage in the ground fighting, it has recently suffered heavy blows in Ukrainian drone attacks on its oil industry.
