Russian troops have entered almost all areas of @Kyivpost_official.
“The enemy is recorded in almost all quarters and areas of the city. They move in small groups of several fighters, which we detect through observation and promptly neutralize with all available means – from FPV drones and drop munitions to artillery.”
However, Gus emphasized that Russian forces do not control any part of Pokrovsk.
“The situation is really unstable; certain positions can change hands. But we cannot talk about stable enemy control over any part of the city right now,” he said, adding, “This is all a gray area.”
According to Gus, Russian troops are making their greatest effort to secure the city’s southern neighborhoods – Sonyachny, Shakhtarsky, and Lazurny.
“They are pressing very hard from the west, toward Hryshyne, and also from the northeast, where battles continue around Rodynske and Chervonyi Liman. They want to converge from two directions and close this pocket,” he said, adding that Russian forces remain “very far” from achieving that goal thanks to the actions of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
Russian Troops Burn Their Own Trucks to Halt Pokrovsk Deployment, Partisans Say
Pokrovsk, a strategic road and rail hub in Donetsk, has seen months of heavy fighting.
The General Staff reported on the morning of Nov. 3 that Ukrainian troops repelled 68 Russian assault attempts in the Pokrovsk sector, including near the settlements of Nykanorivka, Mayak, Mirnograd, Chervonyi Liman, Rodynske, Razine, Mykolaivka, Novoekonomichne, Pokrovsk, Lysivka, Zvirovo, Kotlyne, Udachne, Molodetske, Novomykolaivka, Horikhove, Dachne, and Filiya.
On Nov. 1, Ukraine’s 7th Airborne Assault Corps said that, “as a result of successful counterattacks,” Ukrainian forces had improved their tactical positions in several districts of Pokrovsk, though the situation remained “complex and dynamic.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Nov. 2 that he received reports from the military about the situation in Pokrovsk, focusing on ongoing fighting there.
“There are results in the elimination of the occupier,” he said.
That same day, DeepState analysts reported new Russian advances in Pokrovsk. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also noted that Russia continues to intensify offensive operations around the city, attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces.
On Nov. 2, the head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, General Mykola Malomuzh, said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had ordered his military to capture Pokrovsk, Mirnograd, and the entire Pokrovsk agglomeration by Nov. 15.
“Putin’s strategic goal is to show that he can seize specific territories and boast to Russians and his partners – especially after Trump’s change of position and his meeting with Xi Jinping – that he can dictate his own terms,” Malomuzh said.
According to him, the Kremlin’s next goal, if Pokrovsk falls, would be to advance toward Kostyantynivka and Kramatorsk.
Also on Nov. 2, Vitaly Deynega, founder of the Come Back Alive foundation, claimed on Facebook that Ukraine has “practically lost Pokrovsk.”
“If in the near future no one signs the order to withdraw troops from Pokrovsk and Mirnograd, we may lose a significant number of highly motivated paratroopers and marines,” Deynega wrote, adding that property worth hundreds of millions has already been lost with no chance of evacuation.
He warned that without withdrawal, Ukraine could face a situation “when there’s no one left to plug the hole in the front,” and that fortifications in the rear could soon fall to the Russian troops.
Deynega also accused the General Staff of releasing “more and more lies” each da
“We have practically lost Pokrovsk, and that means there’s no point in holding Mirnograd either,” he wrote. “The Russians see this from their drones in real time. This must be acknowledged, and those who refuse to withdraw without an order must be held accountable.”
According to RBC Ukraine outlet, citing its sources, up to a thousand Russian soldiers may now be inside the city. The railway running through Pokrovsk effectively divides it in two, and on OSINT maps, the southern part is already marked as a gray zone or under Russian control.
Despite this, there is currently no encirclement or “cauldron,” RBC Ukraine reports. Russian troops continue to conduct raids in the central.
As per previous Kyiv Post’s report, a Russian soldier allegedly set fire to his unit’s truck to avoid deployment to the embattled city of Pokrovsk, according to the Ukrainian partisan group Atesh.
The group shared a video showing a man igniting a truck marked with the “Z” symbol. Atesh claims the act was carried out by an insider from Russia’s 115th Motorized Rifle Brigade near Avdiivka. Kyiv Post could not independently verify the report.
Several groups of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) special forces carried out a daring landing operation in Pokrovsk in the end of last week, overseen by HUR chief Kyrylo Budanov, defense sources confirmed to the Kyiv Post.
The troops arrived by US-made Black Hawk helicopters, targeting areas Russia claims to control. “Yes, a landing operation took place,” a defense source said, adding that the mission aimed to stabilize the front line and restore key supply routes cut off by Russia’s advance.
Footage shared by The Economist’s Oliver Carroll shows about 10 Ukrainian soldiers exiting a helicopter, though the date and location could not be verified.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed its forces “eliminated” all 11 Ukrainian troops who landed near the city, but HUR sources denied this, calling the claims “lies.”
Ukraine’s military says the situation in Pokrovsk remains “difficult,” with at least 200 Russian troops pushing into southern districts. Open-source group DeepState estimates roughly half the city is contested, with street battles and drone strikes continuing.
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