Russia Claims Capture of Key Eastern Ukraine City of Pokrovsk
POKROVSK, Ukraine – Russian forces announced Monday the capture of pokrovsk, a strategically critically important logistics hub in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, after nearly two years of siege. The Kremlin cited Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov as confirming the city’s fall, alongside the capture of Vovchansk in the kharkiv region, in a Telegram post.
Pokrovsk, once home to 60,000 residents, has been subjected to intense bombardment in recent weeks, suffering widespread destruction from Russian drone, artillery, and bomb strikes. The city serves as a major transportation node within Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian regions Russia claims to have annexed.Ukraine has not yet independently confirmed the takeover, though reports indicate the circulation of a video purportedly showing Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk flying a Russian flag.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Gerasimov reported the “liberation” of Pokrovsk to President Vladimir Putin on sunday during a visit to a front-line command center, according to Russia’s TASS news agency. Putin subsequently congratulated Russian forces on their victory, referring to the city by its Russian name, Krasnoarmeysk.
the reported capture of Pokrovsk comes as ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy engages in meetings with US and European leaders to discuss potential pathways to negotiate an end to the ongoing conflict. Zelenskyy has emphasized his commitment to avoiding territorial concessions to Russia, viewing such concessions as legitimizing Moscow’s occupation of Ukrainian territory.
