Under heavy fog, Russia presses into Pokrovsk — Ukraine says 300 troops enter city
Under the cover of heavy fog, Russia is intensifying its push to seize Pokrovsk — exploiting low visibility that blunts Ukrainian drone surveillance and strikes, the 7th Corps of Ukraine's Air Assault Forces reported on Nov. 11.
Pokrovsk, with a pre-war population of around 60,000, has been a key target for Russia in recent months. Since this summer, Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups have entered the city but have so far failed to capture it.
Russian forces are advancing into Pokrovsk from the southern outskirts with light equipment, coming from occupied Selydove and Donetsk.
The 7th Corps says that over 300 Russian troops are currently in the city, aiming to reach the northern borders of Pokrovsk and encircle the urban area, according to the 7th Corps.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continue to detect and neutralize Russian groups in urban areas, even under low-visibility conditions. The Ukrainian army has reportedly eliminated 162 Russian soldiers in Pokrovsk, with another 39 wounded, since the beginning of November, the report read.
After taking control of Avdiivka, a longstanding Ukrainian stronghold roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Pokrovsk in February 2024, Russian forces have been steadily pushing toward Pokrovsk, a former key Ukrainian logistics hub located in a relatively secure part of Donetsk Oblast.
Russian troops have now encircled Pokrovsk on three sides, leaving only a roughly 15-kilometer (nine-mile) corridor for Ukrainian forces to bring in reinforcements and supplies, according to the Ukrainian open-source battlefield monitoring group DeepState.
Russia outnumbers Ukrainian troops eight-to-one in their offensive to capture Pokrovsk, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
