Ukraine War Map, Update: Russia Attacks Inside 'Fortress City' Pokrovsk
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Russian forces are inside the heavily fortified eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to local media and analysts, as Kyiv and Moscow officials prepare for another round of ceasefire talks this week.
Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian military and Russia's defense ministry via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Moscow has spent many months closing in on Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian logistics hub in the war-torn Donetsk region.
Russia has annexed Donetsk, along with the Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of mainland Ukraine, although its claim to these oblasts—and to the Crimean peninsula it seized from Kyiv in 2014—is not internationally recognized. A Russian-backed official claimed last month that the Kremlin had taken control of all of Luhansk.
Russia has hammered Ukraine with intensified aerial assaults in recent weeks as U.S.-brokered ceasefire talks failed to yield progress. A third round of negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials will start in Istanbul on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a significant pivot away from his previous disdain for Kyiv, greenlit more U.S. weapons support for Ukraine via NATO nations last week, and said Russia had 50 days to clinch a ceasefire deal or face tariffs.
What To Know
Ukrainian military personnel in Pokrovsk have confirmed Russian forces "entered the city," the country's Ukrainska Pravda outlet reported on Tuesday.
A "mop-up operation" is underway to take out Russia's "sabotage units" in Pokrovsk, according to the Ukrainian media report.
Pokrovsk was dubbed a "fortress city," key to Ukrainian lines in the east and connected to other critical defensive cities. Russia, rather than attempting to laboriously power through the urban area of Pokrovsk, moved to encircle the city and cut off Ukrainian access to the settlement.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's top soldier, said on Friday that Russia had "increased" the pressure on Ukrainian defenses in Pokrovsk, and that a Russian sabotage group had "tried to break through to the city."
The Russian soldiers were "exposed and destroyed," Syrskyi said. "Pokrovsk continues to hold its defense steadfastly."
Popular Ukrainian tracking blog Deep State said on Monday that Russian sabotage groups had entered into the city itself via the village of Zvirove, southwest of Pokrovsk, in the past few days. One of the Ukrainian brigades stationed around Pokrovsk had "simply run out of infantry," the Ukrainian analysts said.
Parts of two Ukrainian brigades were moved in response, according to the blog's authors.
Ukrainian troops are still searching for the Russian sabotage groups inside Pokrovsk, the Deep State analysts said, claiming Ukrainian "friendly fire" incidents had surged around the city after news of Russian presence broke but Ukrainian soldiers struggled to pinpoint the location of Moscow's troops.
Russia on Tuesday said its soldiers had captured another Donetsk village, named as Novotoretske. The Deep State analysts separately said on Tuesday that Moscow now controlled Hrushivske, southwest of Pokrovsk and close to the border of Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Russia's aerial attacks have increased as its forces continue to eke out gradual but steady gains at several points along the frontlines in Ukraine. Earlier this month, Russia launched more than 700 drones at Ukraine in a single night, while Kyiv's backers have pledged to quickly send more air defense systems to the country.
What People Are Saying
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank tracking daily changes to the frontlines in Ukraine, said on Monday that Russia had advanced south of Pokrovsk, including in the east of Zvirove and the village of Pishchane, just southwest of Zvirove. Russia also attacked toward Pokrovsk itself, the U.S. analysts said.
One of Russia's influential military bloggers said on Telegram on Tuesday that Russia was attacking Zvirove from Pishchane, and referenced Russian sabotage groups in Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian military observer, Konstantin Mashovets said on Telegram on Tuesday that the situation for Ukraine to the north of Pokrovsk "continues to worsen" and Russia is preparing to "storm" the city.
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