A sign at the entrance to the Donetsk region city of Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, 6 December 2024. Photo: EPA / Maria Senovilla
Russia’s Defence Ministry called on Ukrainian troops in the embattled frontline city of Pokrovsk to surrender on Wednesday as Russian forces tightened their encirclement of the key strategic hub in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
The remaining Ukrainian troops defending the city were trapped in “pockets” and suffering “significant losses” as Russian forces advanced, the ministry said, adding that Russian shelling had left “Ukrainian servicemen with no chance of survival except through voluntary surrender”.
Both sides have issued contradictory statements about the balance of control in the city, where fighting has intensified since late October. Last week, Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged the “difficult” conditions Ukrainian troops faced in Pokrovsk but denied Russian claims that they had been encircled.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday accused Kyiv of concealing the “dire situation” its troops faced in Pokrovsk, noting that Moscow had deployed an additional 11,000 troops to capture the city.
Footage shared online on Wednesday showed fighters from Ukraine’s 425th Separate Assault Regiment raising the Ukrainian flag over Pokrovsk’s city council building, while on Thursday morning the AFU’s General Staff said its troops had repelled 100 Russian attacks in the past day alone.
Ukrainian forces were continuing their efforts to push back advancing Russian units and taking “active countermeasures against attempts by enemy infantry groups to gain a foothold”, the General Staff added.
AFU troops, however, are thought to be significantly outnumbered by Russians, with one platoon commander telling Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne on Wednesday that Russian forces were “infiltrating virtually the entire city”.
Hostilities in Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of around 60,000 people, began in February 2024, shortly after Russian forces captured the nearby city of Avdiivka. Although fighting slowed between late 2024 and June 2025, Russian forces have made substantial advances since July in a grinding offensive that has brought heavy losses.
The now-ruined city has long served as a key AFU logistics hub, housing a major drone operations unit that has come under increasingly heavy Russian infantry assaults, allowing Moscow’s forces to consolidate their foothold in its eastern and central districts. If captured, it would represent Russia’s most significant territorial gain since its forces took Avdiivka 21 months ago.
