Russian troops enter Pokrovsk, Ukrainian 'search and destroy' operation ongoing

Russian troops have entered the front-line city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast, the open-source battlefield monitoring group DeepState and soldiers on the ground said on July 22.

Pokrovsk, situated around 67 kilometers (41 miles) northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk, has emerged as one of the fiercest hotspots in the Kremlin's ongoing offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Speaking to the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity, a member of a Ukrainian drone team working out of Pokrovsk reported that Russian soldiers had made it into the city limits, though it wasn’t clear if they had managed to dig in.

According to DeepState, Russian forces managed to penetrate the city from the direction of Zvirove a few days earlier after exploiting weakened Ukrainian infantry positions and inaccurate situational reporting.

The breach reportedly prompted an urgent response from Ukrainian units to prevent the situation "from spiraling into disaster."

"Russian units attempted to entrench themselves and gain control over Defenders of Ukraine street," DeepState said. "Some of them have been killed, others are still being hunted. The search and destruction of these groups is still ongoing."

The group noted that Ukrainian forces suffered casualties in the ongoing cleanup operation, with incidents of friendly fire reported due to a lack of clear intelligence on the Russian troops' movements and locations.

DeepState warned that reports on such infiltration attempts should be approached with caution and confirmed data.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 18 that Ukrainian troops were "steadfastly" defending Pokrovsk from repeated Russian infantry assaults. In June, Syrskyi described it as "the hottest spot along the entire 1,200-kilometer front line."

According to Syrskyi, Russian troops continue to rely on small infantry groups to probe Ukraine's defenses but has so far failed to gain control of the city.

He warned that Russian troops are attempting to sever logistics routes from the northern city of Dobropillia and noted that Russian forces had massed over 110,000 troops in the area by early summer.

Pokrovsk remains a strategic target for Russia as it seeks to advance further into Donetsk Oblast and potentially threaten neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

The Kyiv Independent reached out to Ukraine's military for additional comment.