The battle for control of the key hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine is escalating, as the Russian Defense Ministry reports having eliminated a Ukrainian special forces unit deployed to reinforce the town’s defenses.
Recently, Russian forces have begun advancing into Pokrovsk itself and have approached the final supply lines that support Ukrainian troops stationed there.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian special forces were deployed by helicopter on the northwestern edge of Pokrovsk. Drone footage circulated by an unofficial Russian Telegram channel displayed Ukrainian soldiers dispersing from a Blackhawk helicopter. The ministry claimed that eleven soldiers from the landing team were killed. The timing of the operation remains undisclosed.
A source within Ukrainian intelligence told CNN that this claim is false, adding that stabilization operations, overseen by the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, are ongoing in Pokrovsk.
The Ukrainian 7th Aerial Assault Corps confirmed a successful landing took place in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, describing it as “a complex operation that required coordinated actions across multiple units.”
The Corps indicated that Ukrainian forces have improved their tactical positioning in several city districts. They stated, “the number of assault groups in Pokrovsk is increasing,” further reporting that 85 Russian soldiers have been killed in the area during the past week.
On Saturday, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian military, affirmed that Pokrovsk and the adjacent town of Myrnohrad “are neither encircled nor blocked, and efforts to secure logistics are ongoing.”
Syrskyi also mentioned, “a comprehensive campaign to eliminate and expel enemy forces from Pokrovsk is underway,” highlighting his recent visit to the frontline for coordination.
He added that enemy troops continue their attempts “to infiltrate residential zones and sever our supply chains.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Saturday that their forces “continue eliminating encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces units near the railway station” in Pokrovsk and have repelled several breakout attempts by Ukrainian troops. They asserted that the encirclement of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad is becoming tighter.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Tuesday that approximately 200 Russian soldiers have infiltrated Pokrovsk. Geolocated videos have shown Russian troops moving in small groups in the southern sections of the town.
According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian forces have launched counterattacks and made slight progress north of the town.
The fall of Pokrovsk would mark the largest urban area lost to Russian forces since their capture of Bakhmut in May 2023. As a key junction for road and rail, controlling it would provide Russian troops with a path closer to the larger industrial cities of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka in Donetsk.
The unofficial Ukrainian DeepState website, dedicated to battlefield analysis, reported that Russian forces gained 267 square kilometers of Ukrainian land in October, matching their territorial gains from September.
Attempts by U.S. President Donald Trump to facilitate a ceasefire in Ukraine have failed, as the Kremlin insists the underlying causes of the conflict—such as NATO’s eastward expansion and what it terms as the “Nazification” of Ukraine—must be resolved before any truce is possible.
Moscow has emphasized that the initial objectives of its so-called Special Military Operation remain non-negotiable, including sovereignty over four eastern Ukrainian regions, among them Donetsk.
Pipelines blown up
As Russian forces advance along various sectors of the frontline, Ukraine has maintained its long-range operations aimed at damaging and disrupting Russian energy and military infrastructure.
On Friday, Ukrainian saboteurs detonated three pipelines transporting fuel in the Moscow region, according to Ukraine’s defense officials—continuing Kyiv’s campaign targeting refineries, pumping stations, and pipelines.
“The ‘Koltsevoy’ oil pipeline, supplying the Russian occupation forces,” was disabled on Friday as part of a special operation, stated Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (DI).
The DI released an image showing what appeared to be devices attached to three separate pipelines near Ramenskoye, south of Moscow, protected by anti-drone netting. Video footage from DI depicted an explosion sending flames hundreds of meters into the sky.
“All three pipelines transporting gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel for the aggressor were efficiently and simultaneously blown up,” DI confirmed.
Unlike recent drone and missile attacks, Ukrainian forces used a sabotage team to plant explosives at the site, as demonstrated in the DI video.
No official response from Russian authorities has been reported concerning the explosion or any fuel supply disruptions. However, local officials in the nearby Zhukovsky district noted power outages affecting some consumers on Friday, without attributing the cause.
The pipeline encircling Moscow is supplied by several refineries and can transport up to 3 million tons of aviation fuel, 2.8 million tons of diesel, and 1.6 million tons of gasoline annually, according to DI.
Since summer, Ukraine has escalated targeting Russian energy facilities using longer-range drones and missiles to strike deep within Russian territory.
“Our attacks have inflicted more damage than the sanctions [against Russia],” stated Budanov. “Through direct actions, we have caused significantly greater harm to the Russian Federation than any economic measures implemented to date.”
Earlier this month, President Zelensky noted that up to 20% of Russia’s refining capacity has been rendered inoperative, with multiple Russian regions reporting petrol shortages.
To offset the shortfalls, Russia has increased fuel imports from Belarus.