Fighting for control of the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine is intensifying, with the Russian Defense Ministry claiming to have destroyed a Ukrainian special forces team sent to help defend the area.
In recent weeks, Russian units have entered Pokrovsk and blocked the last supply routes supporting Ukrainian forces in the city.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian special forces landed by helicopter on the northwestern outskirts of Pokrovsk.
Drone footage, posted by an unofficial Russian channel on Telegram, shows Ukrainian soldiers disembarking from a Blackhawk helicopter. The ministry claimed that 11 soldiers were killed, without specifying when the mission took place.
A Ukrainian intelligence source said the information was untrue and that stabilization efforts under the leadership of the head of the Ukrainian intelligence service, Kirill Butanov, were continuing in Pokrovsk.
Ukraine’s 7th Air Assault Corps announced a successful landing in the area, describing the operation as “complex and demanding, with coordinated actions of various units.”
Special Forces Operations and Pipeline Blowups
Ukrainian forces have managed to improve their tactical position in several districts of the city, according to the Corps. “We are increasing the number of assault groups in Pokrovsk,” it noted, adding that 85 Russian soldiers were killed in Pokrovsk last week.
“In contrast, the Russian Defense Ministry said its units continued to destroy the encircled Ukrainian forces in the area of the railway station and that they had repelled several of their escape attempts, while the cordon around Pokrovsk and neighboring Myrnograd was tightening.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 200 Russian soldiers had entered Pokrovsk. Geolocated video showed Russian soldiers in the southern part of the city, moving in small groups. Ukrainian forces tried to counterattack and advanced slightly north of the city.
The commander of the Ukrainian forces, General Oleksandr Shirsky, said the situation remains difficult, but Russian propaganda claims of an alleged encirclement do not correspond to reality.
Russian forces are massing in urban areas and moving, while “search and strike operations and enhanced protection of supply and evacuation routes” are being conducted in the city.
The strategic importance of Pokrovsk and the deadlocked ceasefire
If Pokrovsk falls, it will be the largest urban area captured by Russian forces since they took Bakhmut in May 2023. The city is a major road and rail hub, and its capture would bring Russian forces closer to the larger cities of Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk industrial zone.
According to the unofficial Ukrainian website DeepState, Russian forces captured 267 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in October – the same as in September.
US President Donald Trump’s efforts for a ceasefire in Ukraine have failed, as the Kremlin insists that the root causes of the conflict – including NATO’s eastward expansion and the “Nazification” of Ukraine – must be addressed first.
Moscow says the initial goals of the “Special Military Operation” are non-negotiable: sovereignty over four eastern regions of Ukraine, including Donetsk.
Sabotage and strikes on Russian infrastructure
As the Russians advance on various parts of the front, Ukraine continues long-range operations to destroy and disrupt Russia’s energy and military infrastructure.
On Friday, Ukrainian saboteurs blew up three fuel pipelines in the Moscow region as part of a campaign of targeted attacks on refineries, pumping stations and pipelines.
“The Koltsevoy pipeline, which supplied the Russian army, was put out of action in a special operation,” according to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Service (DI).
The three pipelines used by the Russians to transport gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel were blown up simultaneously. Unlike recent attacks carried out with drones and missiles, this time the Ukrainians sent a team of saboteurs to plant the explosives on site.
There has been no official statement from Russian authorities, but local authorities in the Zhukovsky region reported power outages without explaining the cause. The pipeline around Moscow has the capacity to transport up to 3 million tons of jet fuel, 2.8 million tons of diesel and 1.6 million tons of gasoline annually.
Ukraine began targeting Russian energy infrastructure in the summer, using drones and long-range missiles.
Butanov said that “our attacks have had a greater impact than sanctions against Russia,” while Zelensky said that up to 20% of Russian refining capacity has been shut down, with several regions facing gasoline shortages.
Russia has imported fuel from Belarus to make up for the shortages.
