4 July 2026
A Defense Forces officer fighting in the Pokrovsk area explained to NV how the enemy is attempting to press the “belt of fortresses” from the south and why strikes deep in the rear have become Ukraine’s primary weapon in this area.
Thirty-three clashes in one day—that’s a typical early July update on events in the Pokrovsk sector of the Donetsk region. In other words, every eighth assault by Russian troops along the entire thousand-kilometer front of the great war occurs in the area of this city, located south of Putin’s main target in the Donbas—the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk “belt of fortresses.”
Defense forces have stopped and continue to repel assaults in the areas of Rodynskoye, Grishino, Udachny, and Molodetskoye, as well as near Belitskoye, Novyi Donbas, Shevchenko, Sergeyevka, and Novopavlovka. In other words, the enemy is not pressing with a single wedge, but with a series of localized attacks along the entire perimeter of the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration.
Back in May, the OSINT portal DeepState reported the possible complete occupation of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. However, the 7th Airborne Assault Corps, which is holding the line in this direction, denied this information, stating that the Defense Forces continue to hold positions on the northern outskirts of the city.
So what’s happening in Pokrovsk now? NV spoke again with an officer from one of the units fighting in this area. He asked that neither his name nor his unit number be disclosed.
According to this source, the Pokrovskoe direction remains the Russian command’s number one priority along the entire front: groups of two enemy combined arms armies are concentrated there, as well as the 76th Airborne Assault Division; units of the 90th Tank Division have also been previously reported. This is the largest concentration of forces the enemy is holding around a single metropolitan area, and this strength has not diminished over the past six months.
“Pokrovsk is a fairly large city for the area, and it’s also located on a hill. Therefore, this location could become a convenient logistics hub for the Russians. They’re trying to advance as far as possible and amassing forces for a further offensive,” the NV source explained.
Battle for logistics
The Russians are currently making virtually no attempt to push through the front line with full-scale assaults. “The main thing they’re doing now is trying to concentrate as many forces and resources as possible toward Pokrovsk,” the officer said. “In recent months, there have been several instances where they directly assaulted Grishino [a village northwest of Pokrovsk], but they’ve since stopped. And they’re not making as many advances north of Pokrovsk either.”
The enemy’s logic is clear: they are trying to turn Pokrovsk into a logistics hub for their further offensive. Therefore, instead of attacking, the Russians are amassing troops and equipment there, as well as establishing command posts and positions from which drone crews can operate.
However, infiltration beyond the city limits hasn’t stopped. “They’ve focused on Grishino: they’ve entered its southern part and advanced toward the center, trying to outflank it through the fields and through the industrial zone in the northwest. In northern Pokrovsk, they’re also trying to break out of the city, toward Rodinsky,” the source explained.
As for this “infiltration-infiltration” system, according to the officer, it has already become typical for the Russians: “A year ago, this was a more or less new tactic along the entire front line. Now everyone has adapted and understands how to contain.”
The problem lies elsewhere—the balance of forces. The Russians don’t spare their infantry, so they throw them forward: in some places, they die, in others, they gain a foothold, and in others, they advance in groups of one or two. In response, the Ukrainian Armed Forces use remote mining and artillery, since the enemy’s advance routes are more or less known.
The cost of such pressure for the Russians is high. According to the 7th Airborne Assault Corps, 1,703 occupiers were killed or wounded in the Pokrovsk sector in June alone. The paratroopers also destroyed or damaged 71 enemy artillery systems and armored vehicles, 139 trucks and cars, 54 motorcycles and ATVs, and 1,151 enemy positions.
However, countering the buildup of forces directly in urban areas is difficult, as NV’s source admits. When enemy drone operators have already deployed among high-rise buildings, and the occupiers’ logistics are more or less established, the only real countermeasures are air power with its air defense missiles and medium-range strikes. While FPV drones can destroy equipment and infantry, they are virtually powerless against hidden enemy UAV crews.
“FPV isn’t much use in destroying the operators’ position, as the enemies are hiding in the basements of buildings. We need aircraft,” the Ukrainian officer explained.
Therefore, the Ukrainian military is now focusing on disrupting enemy communications: they are actively targeting antennas to disrupt normal communications, although, according to the officer, such devices can be quickly replaced. As for domestically produced KABs, they have not yet become a mass-produced weapon: according to the editorial source, there have been reports of their use on a specific section of the front, but widespread deployment is not being discussed. Ukrainian aviation is operating, albeit on a limited basis. “Middle strikes”—drone strikes targeting operational depth—are gaining momentum. However, as the NV source emphasizes, it is more rational to use them not in the city itself, but outside it—to disrupt enemy logistics.
Logistics has now become perhaps the primary objective of the battle in northern Donetsk. A road stretches from occupied Selydove to Pokrovsk, vulnerable to Ukrainian drone strikes. Enemy vehicles and motorcycles are destroyed daily along this stretch. In June, around a hundred vehicles, from cars to ATVs and motorcycles, were burned there. There’s no peace along the route: the Russians have even erected anti-drone nets over the road, but, according to a source, this is of little help to the enemy.
Incidentally, the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade reported Hornet drone strikes on Russian logistics along the Donetsk-Selidovo-Pokrovsk highway; confirmed targets included 14 artillery pieces, self-propelled guns, and Grad multiple rocket launchers.
The artillery the enemy attempted to bring into the city is a separate story. In April and May, the Russians were amassing numerous weapons in Pokrovsk, and the Defense Forces focused on destroying them. In the footage of the target engagements personally seen by the officer interviewed, this artillery is mostly hidden in garages and camouflaged in buildings; there is no evidence of widespread use from within the city itself—the fire is most likely coming from the southern outskirts.
“Headquarters”
“According to available information, the enemy wants to establish its group’s headquarters in Pokrovsk. In a certain sense, this seems logical: if you look further west, there are no major cities there, and the next one is Pavlograd,” the source told the editorial board. “But this must not be allowed under any circumstances. The Defense Forces understand this and are working to prevent it.”
This same NV source reiterated what he told the editorial team back in the winter: there is no continuous front line near Pokrovsk. That is, when it comes to the “gray zone,” it’s generally difficult to say where the line is and where it isn’t, but Russian penetration beyond Pokrovsk is occurring—as is their containment.
The overall situation in the Pokrovsk direction, according to the officer, as of early July is as follows: there is no large-scale Russian breakthrough. There is constant pressure from small groups, enemy forces are amassing in urban areas, and there is a struggle for logistics, which costs the Russians hundreds of pieces of equipment destroyed each month.
“The main objective is to force the enemy to move their strongholds outside the city and cut off their logistics so they can’t freely enter the city or use their vehicles. This is already being partially accomplished,” the officer concludes.
So pathetic are Ukraine’s “allies” that they don’t even have the stomach to say :
“Enough is enough, we will not allow putler to take even one square kilometer more.”
Let alone say :
“We will provide Ukraine with all the firepower she needs to clear the orcs from Ukrainian sovereign territory once and for all.”