Russia Moves in on Pokrovsk in What Would Be Huge Win in Ukraine War
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Russian forces have advanced towards Pokrovsk it has been reported, as one Ukrainian sergeant described how "things are going terribly wrong" for Kyiv's forces fighting to hold on to the logistics hub in the Donetsk region.
Russian forces had entered Pokrovsk following earlier Russian advances south of the city, according to reports.
Military analyst Emil Kastehelmi told Newsweek Tuesday that Russian gains on the eastern flank of the city endangered its defense but there was no immediate threat of encirclement, although the situation for Ukrainian forces could deteriorate quickly.
Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian defense ministries for comment.
This image from June 19, 2025 shows the evacuation of civilians from Pokrovsk, Donetsk region by the forces of the National Police of Ukraine.
This image from June 19, 2025 shows the evacuation of civilians from Pokrovsk, Donetsk region by the forces of the National Police of Ukraine.Why It Matters
A city with a pre-war population of 60,000, Pokrovsk is located west of Avdiivka which fell to Russian forces in February 2024 and is a critical hub in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.
Key to Moscow's goal of controlling the Donbas region, Pokrovsk's railroad and road connections mean that falling to Russia would complicate resupply efforts for Ukrainian troops and could enable Russian forces to push toward Dnipro to the east.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Monday Russian advances northeast of Pokrovsk are aimed at enveloping the city and creating the base of a salient to attack Ukraine's fortress belt from the south.
What To Know
Ukrainian military personnel said that the initial Russian infantry incursion into Pokrovsk took place on July 17, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Russian forces advanced south of Pokrovsk and were reinforcing groupings northeast of the city, according to the ISW.
By Monday evening, Ukrainian OSINT analysts DeepState reported that a mop-up operation against Russian sabotage groups in Pokrovsk was ongoing.
DeepState said that Russian forces had exploited a Ukrainian brigade's depleted infantry and a muddled battlefield assessment to infiltrate the city via Zvirove.
The crisis for Ukrainian forces was dealt with by their 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the 68th Jaeger Brigade but Russia intended to dig in and await reinforcements as a hunt continue for Russian sabotage groups, DeepState said.
Emil Kastehelmi, a military analyst with the Black Bird Group, told Newsweek Russian forces had made gains especially on the eastern flank of Pokrovsk which are beginning to pose a significant issues for the city's defense.
He said that supply lines are becoming increasingly threatened by Russian drones, but there is still a relatively large troop concentration in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad-Novoekonomichne-area.
The gap between the Russian "pincers" is still a bit less than 13 miles, meaning there's no immediate threat of encirclement, "however the situation can deteriorate quickly, if the eastern flank isn't stabilized," he said.
Small Russian groups seem to be able to penetrate their way into Pokrovsk too, indicating some gaps in the Ukrainian lines it seems but it appears that Russian forces have not consolidated any positions inside the city yet, he added.
What People Are Saying
Dmitro Shchipko, Staff Sergeant, Ukrainian Armed Forces on X: "Very... very bad news...We need every RT, like, comment, and donation for the Pokrovsk front. Things are going terribly wrong."
Emil Kastehelmi, military analyst with the Black Bird Group: "Russians have recently made more gains especially on the eastern flank of Pokrovsk, where the latest advances are beginning to pose a significant issues for the defense of the city."
What Happens Next
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Monday there had been a successful strike against Russian saboteurs trying to break into Pokrovsk as the fight for the hub continues.
The ISW said Russia's redeployment of elements of two brigades to the area indicates that Moscow might intensify assaults against Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile, Kastehelmi said that Ukrainian forces will have to careful not to face attrition in their units on the most critical parts of the front as they try to hold onto Pokrovsk.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
22 minutes ago
- The Hill
Cyberattack on Russian airline Aeroflot causes the cancellation of more than 100 flights
A cyberattack on Russian state-owned flagship carrier Aeroflot caused a mass outage to the company's computer systems on Monday, Russia's prosecutor's office said, forcing the airline to cancel more than 100 flights and delay others. Ukrainian hacker group Silent Crow and Belarusian hacker activist group the Belarus Cyber-Partisans, which opposes the rule of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, claimed responsibility for the cyberattack. It is one of the most disruptive cyberattacks to hit Russia since the start of the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Previous attacks have targeted Russian government websites and other major Russian companies — noteably the state-owned Russian Railways — but normal services have resumed within hours. Images shared on social media showed hundreds of delayed passengers crowding Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, where Aeroflot is based. The outage also disrupted flights operated by Aeroflot's subsidiaries, Rossiya and Pobeda. While most of the flights affected were domestic, the disruption also led to cancellations for some international flights to Belarus, Armenia and Uzbekistan. In a statement released early Monday, Aeroflot warned passengers that the company's information technology system was experiencing unspecified difficulties and that disruption could follow. Russia's Prosecutor's Office later confirmed that a cyberattack had caused the outage and that it had opened a criminal investigation. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called reports of the cyberattack 'quite alarming,' adding that 'the hacker threat is a threat that remains for all large companies providing services to the general public.' Silent Crow claimed it had accessed Aeroflot's corporate network for a year, copying customer and internal data, including audio recordings of phone calls, data from the company's own surveillance on employees and other intercepted communications. 'All of these resources are now inaccessible or destroyed and restoring them will possibly require tens of millions of dollars. The damage is strategic,' the channel purporting to be the Silent Crow group wrote on Telegram. There was no way to independently verify its claims. The same channel also shared screenshots that appeared to show Aeroflot's internal IT systems, and insinuated that Silent Crow could begin sharing the data it had seized in the coming days. 'The personal data of all Russians who have ever flown with Aeroflot have now also gone on a trip — albeit without luggage and to the same destination,' it said. The Belarus Cyber-Partisans told The Associated Press that they had hoped to 'deliver a crushing blow.' The group has previously claimed responsibility for a number of cyberattacks, and said in April 2024 that they had been able to infiltrate the network of Belarus' main KGB security agency. 'This is a very large-scale attack and one of the most painful in terms of consequences,' group coordinator Yuliana Shametavets said. She said that the group had been preparing the attack for several months, and were able to penetrate the Aeroflot network by exploiting various vulnerabilities. Belarus is a close ally of Russia. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for more than 30 years and has relied on Russian subsidies and support, allowed Russia to use his country's territory to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and to deploy some of Moscow's tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russia's airports have repeatedly faced mass delays over the summer as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks, with flights grounded amid safety concerns.
Newsweek
24 minutes ago
- Newsweek
China Fires Back at US Allies: 'Political Manipulation'-
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. China's embassy in the United Kingdom has issued a sharp rebuke after Britain and Australia raised concerns over Beijing's actions in the Asia-Pacific, slamming the two countries for "unwarranted accusations and political manipulation." Why It Matters The statement followed the arrival of the U.K.'s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, in the port of Darwin just three days earlier to take part in Australia's Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. The U.S. and its allies—both within the Asia-Pacific and beyond—have been stepping up security cooperation in response to China's increasingly assertive actions in the region, as President Xi Jinping seeks to challenge American primacy. Newsweek reached out to the Australian Department of Defence and the U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office via emailed requests for comment. What To Know The Chinese embassy on Sunday pushed back against a joint statement issued by the U.K. and Australian foreign and defense ministers following their ministerial consultations in Sydney on Saturday. "We firmly oppose the groundless accusations against China in the U.K.-Australia joint statement. Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang [Tibet], and Hong Kong affairs are all China's internal affairs, in which no foreign country has the right to interfere," an embassy spokesperson said, responding to criticism of Beijing's domestic actions. British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is escorted by tugboats as it leaves from Portsmouth Naval Base on the south coast of England, on April 22 for deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is escorted by tugboats as it leaves from Portsmouth Naval Base on the south coast of England, on April 22 for deployment to the Indo-Pacific region. Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images The joint statement cited China's "destabilizing" military activities around Taiwan—the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its territory and has vowed to unite with, through force if necessary. Also mentioned were alleged human rights abuses in Tibet and Xinjiang, and suppression of free speech and democracy in Hong Kong. The spokesperson also objected to the statement's depiction of China's behavior in the South China Sea, saying, "The U.K. and Australia should stop hyping up the issue and stirring up trouble." China claims most of the busy waterway as its territory—claims that overlap with those of several neighbors and have led to a bitter territorial dispute with U.S. treaty ally the Philippines. The spokesperson also rejected the joint statement's call for China to prevent its companies from supplying dual-use civilian-military goods to Russia for use in the ongoing war in Ukraine. "China has been working actively to promote a ceasefire and peace talks, and has kept dual-use items under strict control," the official said. While China has presented itself as neutral in the conflict, it has never called Russia's actions an invasion, and booming trade with Moscow has helped sustain Russia's wartime economy—prompting NATO to label China a "decisive enabler." What People Have Said John Haley, British defense secretary, told the Telegraph regarding a potential war over Taiwan: "If we have to fight, as we have done in the past, Australia and the U.K. are nations that will fight together. We exercise together, and by exercising together and being more ready to fight, we deter better together." Haley added, however, that he was speaking in "general terms" and that London preferred to see disputes solved "peacefully." What's Next Exercise Talisman Sabre will conclude on August 4. This year's iteration—the 11th and largest yet—involves 30,000 military personnel from 19 countries, including the United States.
UPI
24 minutes ago
- UPI
Russian airline Aeroflot cancels flights after as pro-Ukraine group claims hack
Russia's Aeroflot canceled flights after a pro-Ukrainian group claimed an attack on the airline. File Photo by Etienne Laurent/EPA July 28 (UPI) -- A cyber attack on Russia's largest airline on Monday saw dozens of canceled flights after a pro-Ukraine team took responsibility for hacking airline computer systems. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it "quite alarming" after at least 42 scheduled Aeroflot flights largely domestic in Russia got canceled. Aeroflot officials gave no specific details or how long it would take to restore its mainframe after officials informed passengers of a "failure" in its tech systems advising service disruptions, but did warn travelers of delays and cancellations. The airline said its tech teams were "actively working to minimize the impact on flight operations and restore all services to normal as quickly as possible." "We kindly ask passengers to monitor real-time updates on airport websites, information displays, and public announcements across the airline's route network," the airline said in a statement. Aeroflot's cyber-security attack was a direct result of Russia's full-on invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the hacker group calling itself "Silent Crow" confirmed. Russia's prosecutor general's office also confirmed that Aeroflot's technological issues were a result of a virtual attack on its computer systems and stated that a criminal investigation is underway. Silent Crow says it worked with a separate group based in Belarus called "Cyber Partisans BY." They pressed unverified claimed of access to flight history data, that it destroyed roughly 7,000 Aeroflot servers, compromised its corporate computer structure and further threatened to released "the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot." On its Telegram channel, Silent Crow wrote how for a year, "we were inside their corporate network, methodically developing access, going deep into the very core of the infrastructure." Meanwhile, Aeroflot partner air carries Rossiya and Probed have not reported any technological issues. The cyber attack on Russia's flag air carrier arrived weeks after another on Australian airline Qantas exposed the data of six million customers. That followed a similar event at the end of June on Hawaiian Airlines by a group FBI officials believe to be young adults and teens living in the United States and Britain. "Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!" Silent Crow said in a statement.
