Russia claims to have captured the city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine. That would be an important success for the Kremlin. Ukraine has not yet confirmed the Russian report. Here are the key points.
Dec 2, 2025, 3:10 amDec 2, 2025, 3:11 am
What happened?
According to the Kremlin, the Russian military has completely taken over the Ukrainian mining town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region, which has been under dispute for about a year. The capture of Pokrovsk was reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalists.
A Ukrainian soldier in the center of Pokrovsk.Image: keystone
The city of Vovchansk in the neighboring Kharkiv region was also taken. The information cannot be independently verified.
What does Kyiv say?
There was no confirmation or direct statement about Pokrovsk from Kyiv. However, Andriy Kovalenko, who heads the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, said that as peace talks continue, Russia will make more “loud statements” to influence the negotiations and suggest to the West that Ukraine is on the verge of collapse.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said during his visit to Paris that the intensity of the fighting around Pokrovsk and also in the Kharkiv region was “high”. It is also known that the Ukrainian army has been under high pressure for weeks, especially near Pokrovsk.
What does Russia want with the report?
Observers actually associate the Russian announcement of success with the visit of US special envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow, which is expected on Tuesday. The Kremlin wants to present military progress to the Washington negotiator before talks about a peace plan and weaken the Ukrainian negotiating position.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had previously stated several times that Ukrainian troops were encircled in Pokrovsk. The Ukrainian President and the General Staff repeatedly rejected this. Zelensky was therefore accused of delaying the withdrawal for too long for political reasons, similar to the previously lost cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
What would the taking mean for Ukraine?
The capture of Pokrovsk would be the biggest military defeat for Ukraine since the fall of Avdiivka in February 2024. Kiev wanted to show the USA and the Europeans that the billions in arms deliveries were helping the country to defend its territory – one reason why the withdrawal was stubbornly delayed. Critics have long complained that Ukraine risked too many losses in order to hold Pokrovsk for as long as possible – instead of using the resources to strengthen other defense lines.
Why is Pokrovsk important?
The city, in which around 60,000 people once lived, is considered a symbol of Ukrainian resistance against the Russian war of aggression that has been ongoing for more than three and a half years. It is now badly damaged.
Hardly a house in Pokrovsk is still undamaged.Image: keystone
There are no large settlements west of Pokrovsk, which makes further defense difficult for the Ukrainian armed forces. With a capture, Russia is getting closer to its war goal of completely conquering the Donbass industrial region. However, it is still a long and costly road for Russia to fully occupy the Donetsk region.
What’s next?
Moscow’s troops could now concentrate on the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk in the northeast, which form an important defense line that has been built up over the years.
To this end, the Kremlin could also further develop its success in the direction of the Dnipropetrovsk region and the Pavlohrad transport hub, which is only 90 kilometers away. Most of the supplies for the Ukrainian troops remaining around Kramatorsk and Slovyansk go through Pavlohrad. In contrast to the densely populated Donetsk mining region, there are few natural obstacles in the agricultural steppe landscape.
Moscow’s war goals include the capture of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which Russia has declared to be its territories in addition to Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. However, the Russian military still does not fully control any of these areas.
What is the general situation in the war?
Kiev’s troops are under massive pressure on several sectors of the front in the south and east. Ukraine is facing problems due to a shortage of soldiers due to difficulties in recruiting and widespread desertion.
Moscow’s armed forces have been advancing slowly and with heavy losses on the eastern front since autumn 2023. After Pokrovsk, using a new tactic, they entered several smaller infantry groups and bypassed the Ukrainian lines. They refrained from attacking larger units and using armored technology, which is an easy target for Ukrainian drones.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR had reported on an operation by its special forces to stop the fall of Pokrovsk. They were probably no longer able to turn the tide for Ukraine.
Overall, even after Pokrovsk falls, no sudden changes in the course of the war are to be expected. In the war of attrition, both sides rely on the opponent to be exhausted. However, the Ukrainian chances of success are much worse because of the Russians’ massively greater human and material resources. (sda/dpa/vro/con)