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Ukraine’s top military commander confirmed on Saturday that troops are facing “difficult conditions” defending the eastern city of Pokrovsk against a large-scale Russian assault, describing the situation as “dynamic” but denying claims of encirclement.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said Ukrainian troops are fighting against a “multi-thousand enemy” force but remain in control of key positions.
“We are holding Pokrovsk,” Syrskyi said on Facebook, adding that “a comprehensive operation to destroy and dislodge enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing.”
Syrskyi said elite special forces had been deployed to defend critical supply lines that are under Russian fire. “The main burden lies on the shoulders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, particularly UAV operators and assault units,” he added.
Video released by Ukrainian officials showed Syrskyi and military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov studying battlefield maps in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian media reported that Budanov was personally overseeing the operation in Pokrovsk, signaling Kyiv’s determination to hold the city.
Pokrovsk, once home to more than 60,000 residents, is a key logistical and supply hub on the front line of the Donetsk region.
Capturing the city would mark Russia’s most significant territorial gain since it seized Avdiivka in early 2024 after one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Saturday that its troops had surrounded Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk and killed 11 special forces soldiers attempting to land by helicopter.
The ministry also posted videos purporting to show captured Ukrainian soldiers, though the footage could not be independently verified.
Ukraine denied the Russian claims. A military source in Donetsk told the BBC that Ukrainian forces were not surrounded but were under constant fire along their supply routes.
The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian troops had made “marginal advances” in counterattacks north of the city but described Pokrovsk as a “contested grey zone.”
Pokrovsk, located to the west of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, has been under assault for more than a year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his forces aim to capture the city to solidify control over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as the Donbas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that defending Pokrovsk remains a “priority,” acknowledging that some Russian units had infiltrated the city but insisting that Ukrainian troops were pushing them out.
Control of Pokrovsk and the nearby city of Kostiantynivka would enable Russia to advance toward the major Ukrainian strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, both of which remain under Kyiv’s control.
According to Ukrainian data, Russia fired more missiles in October than in any month since early 2023, with 270 launched nationwide, a 46% increase from September. The barrages, aimed at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, left hundreds of thousands without power.
A Russian strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday killed two people and injured several others when a shop was hit, regional officials said. In the southern part of the region, another person was killed in Marhanets.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike set fire to a tanker and infrastructure at Russia’s Tuapse oil terminal on the Black Sea, authorities in the Krasnodar region confirmed.
“The crew was evacuated,” officials said, adding that the fire was later contained.
Moscow continues to demand that Kyiv cede full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of any peace agreement. Ukraine, supported by its Western allies, has rejected these terms.
Washington recently imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil producers and canceled a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelensky has agreed in principle to a U.S.-proposed ceasefire along current front lines, but Putin has refused, maintaining his pre-invasion demands.
The war, now in its third year, has left Russia in control of about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Pokrovsk remains one of the most critical and fiercely contested battlefields in the ongoing conflict.
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