Russian troops are now just 3 km from Pokrovsk. What’s known about the situation in the city, and what are the potential consequences of its loss?
Breakthrough from the South
The occupiers began advancing towards Pokrovsk from the east after capturing Avdiivka in February 2024. In May, the Russians seized the village of Ocheretino, located 30 kilometers west of Pokrovsk, and continued their movement toward the Konstantinovka — Pokrovsk highway.
In August, they occupied the city of Novohrodivka, but did not directly attack Pokrovsk. Instead, they moved southward along the railway that ran from Ocheretino, capturing the neighboring Selidove by October.
By November, the Russian advance in the Pokrovsk direction had somewhat slowed: their main target became Kurakhove, where they concentrated their forces. However, by the end of November to early December, the Russians began to rapidly approach Pokrovsk from the south. Initially, they entered the village of Zheltoe and then pushed towards the settlement of Shevchenko. Ultimately, the Russian army was just 3 km from the main logistics hub in the southern Donetsk region. Military personnel explained how this was possible.
“We were tasked with establishing positions in the thicket, where there were already p*ds,” quotes a diary entry from November 29 by a soldier from the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakov Handziuk.
His unit held the defensive line on the southern flank of the Pokrovsk direction, from where the Russians were advancing. He identifies irrational tasks that were disproportionate to the capabilities of exhausted units as the main reason for the rapid collapse of the Zheltoe — Novotroitske — Shevchenko line.
“When you are assigned an inadequate distance for defense for a battalion that has nearly exhausted infantry (other units are also needed, but infantry is a priority), you cannot establish a sufficient number of infantry positions,” explains the serviceman.
0Accordingly, he continues, taking advantage of the gaps in the defense, the occupiers began to infiltrate in small groups, accumulate, and then advance to the “second” line of mortarmen, UAVs, and fire support companies, forcing them into firefights with the enemy. This is corroborated by other sources from Hromadske in that direction.
“The number of people clearly did not match the front line, and instead of placing a new brigade to close the gaps, they were sent on an assault that failed,” explains another soldier from the 59th brigade.
Hromadske reached out to OSGV “Khortytsia” to comment on the defense organization issues and the gaps in the front line related to the depleted units. Nazar Voloshin, the spokesperson for “Khortytsia,” believes these issues should be explained by the 59th brigade itself.
“We are losing our positions one by one according to this scheme. It is impossible to conduct reconnaissance in the space they provide. You cannot physically fly everywhere. What happens next? You are depleted and given a smaller line of responsibility. But at this moment, there are already so few forces and resources that you cannot hold the smaller line of responsibility. And then you are told: 'You can't even hold this one?' Well, do you understand the absurdity? If only you had given us an adequate line of responsibility from the start!” exclaims a soldier from the 59th brigade (the first of our mentioned interlocutors).
Poor interaction between units is also reported by soldiers from other brigades defending east of Shevchenko. The capture of the settlement complicates their position, as the Russians will now press them not only from the south but also from the west.
“There is very weak interaction overall in the direction between large units, that is, between brigades. The interaction is very poor, to be honest. The left hand often does not know what the right hand is doing. This directly affects the quality of combat management and is one of the key reasons for what is happening, besides the lack of personnel, of course,” says aerial reconnaissance officer Gus from the 68th Jaeger Brigade.
This often occurs because lower-level commanders are afraid to report bad information upwards, fearing consequences and punishments, explains our interlocutor from the 59th brigade.
“We simply have a system of circular insanity. Instead of passing information from bottom to top for adequate decision-making, there is a reluctance to share bad news because there will be sanctions for it. Therefore, we have negative selection of commanders, as commanders who adequately convey information upwards and react to inadequate orders with denial are unwelcome. They promote commanders who salute and carry out the most absurd orders. I have come up with a philosophical concept for myself — the cycle of stupidity in nature,” does not hide his indignation the soldier from the 59th brigade.
Is the situation really critical?
The military command does not hide the fact that the situation near Pokrovsk is currently difficult. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited the troops of the 38th Separate Marine Brigade defending Pokrovsk in December, noting that “we have to make non-standard decisions to enhance the stability of defense and more effectively eliminate the occupiers.”
“The fighting is extremely intense. The Russian occupiers are throwing all available forces forward, trying to break through our troops' defense,” noted the Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to Nazar Voloshin, spokesperson for OSGV “Khortytsia,” in the Pokrovsk direction, the Russians lose an average of about 400 people killed and wounded every day.
“The enemy's main goal is to level the front line and seize as much territory as possible to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” he noted.
Additionally, OSGV “Khortytsia” denied the operational encirclement of Ukrainian units in the area of Uspenivka, which is south of Kurakhovo. The Russian offensive in the Kurakhove direction began almost simultaneously with the assaults on Pokrovsk. Currently, the Kurakhove direction has surpassed Pokrovsk in terms of the number of battles.
Fighting continues in the vicinity of Uspenivka, Hanhivka, Trudove, and Romanivka. As noted by OSGV “Khortytsia,” the Defense Forces are countering the capture of these settlements and the encirclement by the enemy.
What is happening in the city itself?
The head of the Pokrovsk City Military Administration, Serhii Dobriak, noted that a tiered defense in the community began to be built in 2022. According to him, in October, they “completely closed” the southern and western parts of the city.
In mid-November, Hromadske journalists noted that the city's preparations for defense were gaining momentum. Fortifications finally started to be erected in the forest belts, rather than in the middle of the field, from where it was inconvenient to conduct defense.
However, the soldiers Hromadske spoke with still have questions about the quality of these fortifications. Our interlocutor in the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade complains that the fortifications are being built according to Soviet books, and these recommendations do not take into account the realities of modern warfare:
“Note that they are under three meters, with few firing ports. We were in such positions that we had to open the firing ports in a way that we could see, otherwise we wouldn't know how the enemy was approaching. They dug them, but how to observe the terrain? No way.”
In Pokrovsk, where 60,000 people lived in peacetime, only about 11,500 residents remain now. Despite the constant shelling, there are still 18 children in the city, whom the authorities promise to evacuate by December 15.
1Railway communication with the city ceased back in September. Therefore, evacuation trains depart from Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Surviving in the city is becoming increasingly difficult. Critical infrastructure has been destroyed by 80%. The residents of Pokrovsk are without water, gas, and heating. Electricity is available only in some areas of the city, and often with interruptions.
Recently, the authorities announced the cessation of the delivery of free water. The Military Administration explained that this is due to the danger from constant shelling. Additionally, there is a shortage of drivers.
However, stationary points for distributing drinking water, which is purified through filters, are still operating in the community.
The authorities continue to urge locals to evacuate. To register for the evacuation train, it is necessary to submit an application by calling the Pokrovsk GVA.