Russia is closing in on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, a strategic hub that Ukrainian forces have defended for more than a year under heavy bombardment. Military analysts say that if the city falls, Moscow would move significantly closer to capturing Ukraine's last major strongholds in the Donetsk region.
Pokrovsk has long been viewed by Ukrainian commanders as the hinge point for what happens next in eastern Ukraine. For months, Russian forces have attempted to pound the city into submission, using glide bombs, massed infantry assaults and suicide drones to chip away at its defenses.
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This week, new battlefield footage offered the clearest indication yet that Russian units have pushed deeper into the city's northeastern districts. Analysts tracking the front line say Russian troops have exploited small fractures in Pokrovsk's defenses, widening those gaps into narrow thrusts cutting through parts of the city center. Several blocks are now considered contested territory.
Ukrainian intelligence units recently released video showing members of the "Timur" special unit conducting a helicopter insertion aboard American-built Black Hawks. The low-altitude flight into drone-patrolled airspace underscored the risks Ukrainian forces say they are taking to keep the city from falling.
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Ukrainian troops say the balance on the ground has shifted in recent weeks as Russian forces intensified their use of first-person-view attack drones. Fiber-optic cable seen strung across fields near Pokrovsk is evidence of the massive number of guided suicide drones Russian units are using to strike Ukrainian defensive positions, clearing a path for small teams of infantry to advance block by block.
Ukraine has publicized some of its own battlefield successes. Videos posted by Ukrainian units show FPV drones targeting Russian infantry, which Ukrainian officials say reflects the high casualties Russia is willing to absorb in the fight for the city.
Ukrainian troops report pushing back into the local city council building, describing the battle as "highly dynamic" as fighting continues street to street and room to room.
Despite these counterclaims, the overall momentum remains uncertain. Both Moscow and Kyiv appear to be paying an escalating cost for every block of contested territory.
For now, Pokrovsk remains a city on a knife's edge — a place where Ukrainian officials say every soldier, every drone strike and every hour of resistance could determine the future of the war in eastern Ukraine.
