Russian forces are massing significant manpower toward Pokrovsk in a bid to encircle the city. Overall, Moscow has concentrated a 170,000-strong force on this sector of the front, but inside Pokrovsk the Russians are operating in small infantry teams - typically two to four troops at a time.
Senior sergeant “Ron,” from the drone platoon of the reconnaissance company of the 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, described the situation on the Pokrovsk axis on the “We Are Ukraine” TV channel. He pointed to the large number of Russian personnel who are advancing in small infantry groups.
“That’s their tactic. At the start of the war, 200,000 entered Ukraine. Here, it’s 170,000 just around Pokrovsk. There are a lot of them,” Ron said.
He stressed that underestimating the Russian troops is a major problem, saying that despite heavy losses, Russian units continue “wave” assaults, showing little regard for their own soldiers’ lives.
“They’ve broken them into tiny groups. Take the 11,000 infantry who are now trying to move on Pokrovsk in waves. They send them in fours or twos, because if you put a company there and say ‘guys, forward,’ that company might even ‘frag’ its commander. Because they’re going straight into the firing line,” Ron said.
According to the sergeant, it’s difficult to conduct urban combat with heavy equipment inside Pokrovsk because the city is filled with anti-tank hedgehogs and concrete “triangles.” Around Rodynske, the Russians are also using minimal armor - a few tanks and two or three BMP infantry fighting vehicles - so Russian infantry are mainly moving on motorcycles and buggies.
He added that the besieged city faces an extremely difficult situation, but “the best of the best” defenders have arrived and already begun their missions.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian forces continue defensive and counteroffensive actions on the Pokrovsk axis. Ukrainian troops have advanced in eastern Rodynske, and the 7th Air Assault Corps has reinforced and resupplied along the Pokrovsk direction, preventing Russian forces from pushing into northern Pokrovsk and cutting the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad highway.
Meanwhile, a German military observer for Bild reported no visible armed clashes, bombardments or drone strikes on Pokrovsk’s central streets. Ukrainian battlefield maps do not align with those assessments, though the configuration of occupied streets partially overlaps.
