RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE; HANDOUT HANDOUT/EPA
A still image, taken from a video made available by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on December 2, 2025, claims to show an aerial view of the center of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The city in eastern Ukraine has a strategic location as it is the point of confluence of roads and railways and can facilitate the advance of Russian troops to the west. Ukraine does not confirm the capture.
Russia claimed, this Monday, to have taken the city of Pokrovskin eastern Ukraine, after about a year of fighting in the region.
The information was released by Dmitri Peskov, Moscow spokesman, to Russian journalists. According to Peskov, President Vladimir Putin was informed of the seizure of the city, close to Donetsk. Putin has also celebrated the victory:
“I want to thank you. This is an important direction. We all understand its importance,” said the Russian president, in a video released by the Kremlin on Monday night.
Ukraine has not confirmed, however, that Pokrovsk was captured. He says the fight continues for control of the city.
“If the Russians captured Pokrovsk […] they would have fairly easy access to other parts of the Donetsk region and could also advance to the Dnipropetrovsk region”, acknowledged the Ukrainian opposition deputy, Inna Sovsun, but this “did not happen” and, says the deputy, it is an “exaggeration” to announce it.
The Russian Army also reported having entered the city of Vovchansknear Kharkiv and northwestern Ukraine, but, according to the DPA news agency, the claims could not be confirmed.
Russia’s allegation increases pressure on Ukraine, in the context of negotiations for a ceasefire plan defended by the United States. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet this Tuesday in Moscow with Putin.
“Chief of the General Staff Valeri Guerasimov informed Vladimir Putin about the liberation of the cities of Krasnoarmeysk (Russian name for Pokrovsk) and Vovchansk,” the Kremlin reported on Telegram.
The Kremlin indicated that the report was sent to the Russian president on Sunday night, but was only published this Monday. The Russian Ministry of Defense also released images that, according to the ministry, show Russian soldiers raising the flag in the central square of Pokrovsk.
RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE; HANDOUT HANDOUT/EPA
A still image, taken from a video made available by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense on December 2, 2025, shows Russian soldiers holding a Russian national flag in the center of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk), in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is in Paris this Monday, said that clashes around Pokrovsk and Kharkiv remain intense. The battle for Pokrovsk has been going on for months. In September, hundreds of Russian soldiers managed to infiltrate the region.
Why Pokrovsk is important
Pokrovsk, near Donetsk, has a strategic location as it is at the crossroads of several roads and railway lines that lead to the last positions of Ukrainian troops in the east.
Taking the city would make it impossible to supply Ukrainian troops at other points on the eastern front and would also open up to Russia the possibility of an advance to the west, where Ukrainian defenses are more dispersed, and to the north, where the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are located.
If this happens, the Ukrainian Army would be at risk of being surrounded by Russian troops.
If Ukraine actually loses Pokrovsk, the city would become, according to military experts, the central base of Russian troops in the regionjust as it was for Ukraine. The Russians would then advance into a densely populated, high-rise area where thousands of soldiers could be housed.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military, including drone pilots, electronic warfare units and reconnaissance units, would have to retreat to forested areas.
Vovchansk, in the Kharkiv region, has been destroyed by fighting since May 2024. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov classified the capture of this city as “an important step towards victory”.
A data analysis carried out by the AFP agency based on information from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in the United States, indicates that Russian troops made, last month, the biggest advance in Ukraine since November 2024.
However, in recent days, Ukraine has insisted on signing the peace agreement with some speed. According to Zelenskyy, Kiev is ready to move forward with the plan.
