Ukraine has acknowledged mounting pressure in one of its most critical battle zones, with top commanders confirming fierce Russian attempts to break through and take the eastern town of Pokrovsk.
The area has come under intense fire as large Russian formations push to gain control of the strategic transport hub, prompting Kyiv to deploy elite units to help secure supply routes.
Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said troops holding the defensive lines in Pokrovsk were operating in “difficult conditions” as they confront what he called a “multi-thousand enemy” force. He rejected Moscow’s claims that Ukrainian forces in the town had been cut off, stressing that supply routes remain open.
He added that special forces had been sent in to protect key access corridors to the town. Army sources said all supply routes remain under Russian attack, forcing Ukraine to reinforce positions and maintain pressure on advancing forces.
Russia stated that Ukrainian troops were surrendering in the area and claimed that 11 Ukrainian special forces were killed after landing by helicopter. Kyiv dismissed the claims, saying there had been no surrender and denying the loss of elite soldiers.
Gen Syrskyi used a series of Telegram posts to outline the situation, saying he had returned to the front to receive first-hand updates from field commanders in Donetsk.
A short clip showed him reviewing maps with other senior officers, including intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov. Ukrainian media reported that Budanov had travelled to the region to oversee special operations, though the timing and exact location of the footage were not confirmed.
Ukraine’s 7th Rapid Response Corps said on Saturday that troops had “improved [their] tactical position” in Pokrovsk, while acknowledging that fighting remained “difficult and dynamic”. President Volodymyr Zelensky also noted on Friday that holding Pokrovsk remains a “priority”.
Russian forces have pushed westward from the occupied city of Donetsk, aiming to secure Pokrovsk after more than a year of attempts.
Images shared by journalists appeared to show a Ukrainian Black Hawk helicopter dropping around 10 troops near the area, though the date and location could not be verified.
Russia’s defence ministry later said its forces had stopped a Ukrainian special forces landing north-west of Pokrovsk and killed all 11 soldiers involved.
DeepState, a Ukrainian monitoring platform, estimated that nearly half of the town sits in a “grey zone” where neither side maintains full control. A Ukrainian military contact in Donetsk also told the BBC that forces are not encircled, but admitted Russian fire continues to hit supply lines.
The Institute for the Study of War in the United States reported that Ukrainian forces had made “marginal” gains in recent counter-attacks north of the town, while describing Pokrovsk as “mainly a contested ‘grey zone’”.
Pokrovsk is seen as a major military target because of its role as a supply and transport hub. Capturing it would help Russia push efforts to secure the rest of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk, areas Moscow demands as part of peace talks.
Ukraine, in the meantime, believes losing the town could allow Russia to claim growing success and increase pressure on Western nations to scale back support.
The war, launched in February 2022, has seen Russia seize roughly a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
With Washington urging progress on talks and US President Donald Trump recently imposing sanctions on Russian oil companies while cancelling a planned summit with Vladimir Putin, pressure around the battlefield has continued to rise.
Zelensky has said he agrees to Trump’s plan for a ceasefire that would freeze fighting along current front lines. But President Putin maintains that Ukraine must meet pre-war demands, a stance Kyiv and its allies view as surrender.
