Battle of Pokrovsk: Kremlin prepares final assault and opens new front
13 November 17:08
Moscow appears to have set a new “deadline” for its army to take Pokrovsk by December 15. This city has become a symbol of the grueling but unbroken struggle in eastern Ukraine. Despite continuous assaults and weather difficulties, the Ukrainian military is holding its ground, and the command is talking about stabilizing the front. At the same time, new challenges are emerging at the Zaporizhzhia and Kupiansk directions, from defense bypasses to a surge in information attacks by Russia. Why did Pokrovsk become the main target of Russian troops by the end of the year? How realistic is the “deadline” set by Moscow?
Pokrovsk direction
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, visited the Pokrovsk sector and emphasized that this particular section of the front is key to the enemy’s plans.
“The stabilization of the situation in the Pokrovsko-Myrnohrad operation area depends on the level of interaction and coordination of military command and control bodies, units and subdivisions.
The largest number of daily attacks is recorded here. The enemy is trying to take advantage of the difficult weather conditions, but our forces are doing everything to prevent the enemy from moving and consolidating,” noted Syryskyi.
According to Syrsky, over the last 7 days alone, as a result of search and strike operations, Ukrainian forces cleared over 7.4 km² of Pokrovsk district from enemy subversive and reconnaissance groups.
At the same time, new evidence is emerging directly from the front line. A fighter with the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade, who spent a hundred days in positions south of Pokrovsk, described the conditions in which Ukrainian soldiers are fighting.
“For a hundred days this house was his home. Now it’s just a concrete box with pieces falling off because of the blast waves. He left his position a week ago.
New battles are ahead, but not a word about fear or self-pity,” his comrades in the unit said.
The video, shot with a cell phone, shows destroyed shelters, traces of continuous shelling and the wreckage of everyday life that has become a familiar backdrop for hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers.
According to military sources, the enemy is trying to compensate for losses in equipment by actively using small assault groups, but lack of communication, coordination and personnel exhaustion are becoming critical problems. One officer at the front confirms:
“There are already communication failures in Myrnohrad, and the enemy is running out of reserves. If the situation does not change, they may lose the initiative before December.”
Roman Svitan in an exclusive commentary for"Komersant Ukrainian" said that Ukraine has a “very powerful reserve” in the form of law enforcement agencies, but the issue of their involvement in the front is purely political. In his opinion, some of the forces are already actually performing combat missions, but to solve the problem systematically, they need to be formally removed from their “armor” and transferred to military corps.
“We have a very powerful reserve – several hundred thousand law enforcement officers who are still under armor. Some of them are already performing combat missions on the front line. In order to really stop the enemy’s advance” and prevent the Donbas from ceding, it is necessary to involve the security forces and bring a sufficient number of motivated combat-ready fighters to the newly formed corps,” Roman Svitan
Zaporizhzhia direction: Zelenskyy held a meeting
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Zaporizhzhia region and held a meeting with the military command in the Orikhiv sector. The Head of State emphasized that the main attention was paid to the operational situation in the south, the tasks of brigades and regiments, as well as the strengthening of defense and the evacuation of civilians.
“The main focus is on the operational situation in the South, the tasks of brigades and regiments, military and personnel measures to stabilize the situation in the Rivne region. Also, the reinforcement of the Stepnohirsk direction with engineering measures and the evacuation of civilians from certain areas. A separate topic is the air defense of roads, logistics, and critical infrastructure of Zaporizhzhia,” Zelensky said.
However, against the backdrop of official statements, alarming signals are being heard at the front. The Officer telegram channel, run by the military, reported an escalation of the situation in the Huliaypillia sector:
“The problems in the Gulyaypillia sector have been discussed many times and written about by many soldiers. However, they started responding to the problems only now, when it is hard to hide the sh*t, because it is getting bigger and bigger. The enemy is not attacking us head-on at Orikhiv, but simply bypassing the fortifications through Huliaypole. If this continues, the consequences will be bad.” – Telegram channel “Officer”
A soldier with the call sign “Osman” expressed a similar assessment of the situation :
“The Zaporizhzhia direction (from the right flank) is facing a collapse in 2026, similar to what happened in Donbas after Avdiivka and Ocheretyne. If we do not respond to the current situation the way we did in Sumy region, it could end tragically,” – “Osman”
In addition, Ukrainian intelligence intercepted a conversation between commanders of Russian units fighting in Zaporizhzhia region. In it, the battalion commander reports that Colonel R. Khabilov, the regiment commander, ordered to shoot his own soldiers in case of retreat during the assault.
Kupyansk direction: Russian propaganda is at work
Russian propaganda launched a series of videos on TikTok about the alleged “complete encirclement” of Kupyansk, but the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council and the head of KHOVA, Oleh Syniehubov, denied these statements. The Center emphasized that the videos were generated by artificial intelligence and have characteristic signs of fake: unnatural facial expressions, a template voice, and even a mistaken accent in the name of the city.
“Statements about the complete encirclement of Kupyansk are not true. Intense fighting continues in the area, and the Ukrainian Defense Forces are holding their positions,” the Center said in a statement.
The analysts also warned that the deployment of generative technologies in propaganda makes fakes more convincing, so it is important to check the sources of information.
At the same time, units on the ground describe real problems and enemy pressure. Valeriy Kysyelov, a communications officer with the 116th Separate Mechanized Brigade, talks about daily assaults and new methods of the enemy.
“The enemy keeps on attacking without stopping. There are assaults almost every day. There are no tank or mechanized assaults, but there are more and more drones, especially fiber optic drones. And this is a certain problem for logistics,” Valeriy Kyselyov
Kyselyov explains that fiber-optic drones allow the enemy to operate from a distance and complicate the supply of ammunition and rotation.
“A 20-kilometer fiber optic coil allows you to fly beyond Kupyansk. We have one main road, the rest are through fields; this creates a narrow neck for logistics – the Kupiansk-Chuhuiv highway,” the officer said.
DeepState analysts warned in late October that the coming weeks would be crucial,
that the coming weeks would be crucial for the fate of Kupyansk. Either the Defense Forces will find reserves for stabilization actions, or the enemy will accumulate a critical mass of infantry.
Despite this, open sources do not confirm the complete encirclement of the city – only reports of escalation in certain neighborhoods and increased activity of Russian units.
Experts and the military emphasize that the Kremlin’s information injections have a double purpose: to demoralize the local population and to divert attention from real tactical actions. The Center advises not to share “sensational” videos from social media, but to trust official reports from the General Staff and local authorities.
Russia is preparing a winter offensive, but the strategic initiative remains in question. Ukrainian troops continue to defend themselves in the most difficult areas, showing endurance and tactical flexibility. However, the growing information pressure – from fakes on TikTok to claims of “encirclement” – shows: Moscow is fighting not only with weapons, but also with fear.
The next few weeks will be crucial – both for the fate of Pokrovsk and for assessing whether Russia is able to turn its deadlines into real victories or whether it will be another failure of its “winter campaign.”
