Russian infantry have infiltrated in strength into the road and logistics hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, sparking street battles and possibly threatening to surround Ukrainian forces and wipe them out, news reports and soldiers on the ground said on Wednesday.
At least 200 Russian infantry armed with automatic rifles, machine guns, and hand-held rockets were moving freely in the southern districts of city, at times ambushing Ukrainian defense forces still generally in control of central and northern districts, according to public statements by army officers to Ukrainian media, confirmed by military and civilian sources monitored by Kyiv Post on Tuesday and Wednesday. Attack drones thick in the air, a chaotic ground situation, and the presence of some civilians still inside the battered city were all complicating Ukrainian efforts to locate the Russian raiding groups and destroy them, an officer from the Pokrovsk-deployed 68th Assault Jaeger Brigade told Ukraine’s Espresso television news channel in a late Tuesday evening interview.
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“Yes, very often there are situations when the enemy appears in Pokrovsk where we do not expect him,” said Vyacheslav “Lyuty,” whom the TV channel did not fully identify for security reasons.
“The enemy [that hits Ukrainian forces sometimes] turns out to be mortar crews and UAV pilots. The military is forced to engage in gunfights and repel these enemy attacks. This greatly complicates the work. Also, the enemy very often changes into civilian clothes and disguises himself. We cannot fire on civilians, however, there are situations when a person in civilian clothes enters into gunfights and inflicts damage on our positions,” he said.
‘There’s Such Chaos’: Pokrovsk Becomes Epicenter of Ukraine’s Fiercest Battles Yet
According to the Espresso and other accounts from the Pokrovsk battle area, the Russian troops inside the city are on foot and lack vehicles to transport themselves and supplies. Most of the Russian infantrymen walked 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) through thinly manned Ukrainian lines to reach the city’s southern industrial district and construct hides in buildings, the officer Vyacheslav said.
Pokrovsk-based civilian and military sources monitored by Kyiv Post on Wednesday reported the sounds of firefights and regular artillery strikes, regular overflights by drones, and a Russian Air Force glide bomb strike against a major bridge, possibly near the city rail station.
Russian milbloggers on Wednesday published images of a Russian flag flying by a sign marking the southern city limits of the city, and some social media chat groups reported the presence of Russian infantry there. Kyiv Post could not confirm those reports independently.
Vasyl Pekhno, Ukrainian military reporter citing on-the-ground contacts in Pokrovsk and among fighting units in the sector, in a Wednesday situation report, said: “The situation in Pokrovsk is critical. Enemy [drone] pilots are already operating within the city limits… If we [Ukrainian forces] do not block the enemy’s infiltration – we will lose Pokrovsk, [the adjacent town] Myrnohrad, and along with this there will be large losses of soldiers,” Pekhno warned.
The independent Ukrainian military watch group DeepState, on Wednesday, confirmed general Russian control of Pokrovsk’s southern districts, and only partial Ukrainian control of the city’s central and northern regions. Graphics published by the group showed that Russian forces had, aside from infiltrating into the Pokrovsk proper, advanced to within machine gun range of the last supply road running west, placing the city in an effective encirclement.
“The occupiers [Russian forces] have blocked the key route from Pavlohrad to Pokrovsk,” the DeepState platform said. “The situation in Pokrovsk is on the verge of critical and continues to deteriorate to the point that it may be too late to fix everything.”
Ukrainian army spokesmen on Wednesday acknowledged the current situation in Pokrovsk was dangerous and confirmed the presence of Russian troops in Myrnohrad, threatening Ukrainian communications.
“Currently, the enemy has entered the outskirts of Myrnohrad. They also use artillery and unmanned systems, and infantry and technical means. Therefore, it is becoming very difficult now,” Hrihory Shapoval, spokesman for Ukraine’s operational command “East” said in a statement. “Our defense forces are trying to hold their positions, are building fortifications, but the situation is quite difficult.” Kyrylo Sazonov, a staff officer in Ukraine’s 41st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, in a Monday situation report on fighting in the Pokrovsk sector, said full-on urban combat had begun in the city.
“The enemy has transferred everyone they could [to Pokrovsk] from other sectors,” Sazonov wrote. “There is really little good news; the enemy has infiltrated the city, and it’s not just two or three groups… Now there’s real hell in Pokrovsk.” Sazonov said the Russian infantry was “being gradually cleared out,” adding: “For this task, real ‘special forces’ units specializing in urban warfare have been transferred to the area… In fact, these are full-fledged urban battles.”
Col. Valentin Manko, head of Ukraine’s elite Assault Infantry Forces, a service branch specializing in urban combat, in a Sunday statement said that he considered Pokrovsk “the most important sector, and the most difficult” on the entire front, and his troops were conducting “clearing and security operations against the enemy sabotage groups that snuck in there…we will meet them on every street.”
Petro Kuzyk, commander of the 4th National Guard “Rubizh” Assault Brigade, in Tuesday comments to Radio Liberty, said Russian attacks in his unit’s sector were taking heavy casualties, spending days walking across ground monitored by Ukrainian drones, and said he was confident Russian soldiers reaching Pokrovsk city could be hunted down.
“Russian troops are trying not to storm fortified positions directly, but to bypass them through dense orchards or gardens, and forest belts. Such groups operate in groups of several people, ‘seeping’ between battle formations and accumulating closer to the city,” Kuzyk said. “We flew a drone along this path – every 5-10 meters there is a dead occupier. We have video of him walking over the corpses of [his fellow soldiers].” AFU commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky on Oct. 25 visited units deployed in the Pokrovsk sector and, according to a subsequent statement, discussed with local commanders “Searching for and destroying individual enemy sabotage groups, destroying and capturing the enemy and dealing with UAVs and enemy artillery more effectively. To this end, I gave the necessary orders.”
Since Spring 2025, Syrsky has repeatedly deployed assault infantry units recruited and trained specially for close-in combat to threatened sectors, scoring some successes. An assault infantry-led force beefed up with mechanized infantry, tanks and drone teams in August and September blocked, encircled, and eventually destroyed a Russian attempt to infiltrate Pokrovsk from the north, near a village called Dobropillya.
According to an Oct. 27 Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) statement, irretrievable Russian losses in nearly three months of fighting totaled more than 17,000 men, including 190 Russian soldiers taken prisoner. Statements by officers participating in the battles led by 1st National Guard Corps “Azov,” as well as published video and photo content, generally have matched AFU claims of success in the fighting, but Kyiv Post could not confirm those claims independently.
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