Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared the defense of the city of Pokrovsk a top priority, as elite special forces were deployed to the embattled eastern frontline in the Donbas region.
According to Ukrainian military sources cited by the BBC, special units from the military intelligence service and assault groups are now being used as regular infantry to protect critical supply lines sustaining troops inside Pokrovsk.
There have been intensified Russian advances reported around the strategic city, located west of Donetsk. However, Kyiv has denied claims that its forces are encircled.
Moscow continues to push for Ukraine to cede the entire Donbas region as part of a potential peace deal — including areas still not under Russian control. Currently, Russia occupies about one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
The deployment of elite troops signals Kyiv’s determination to hold Pokrovsk, a vital transport and logistics hub whose fall could unlock Russian advances deeper into Donbas. Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov has reportedly personally overseen operations in the region.
Pokrovsk’s loss, analysts warn, could also embolden Moscow’s narrative that its war effort is succeeding — an image Russia hopes will pressure Western allies, particularly the United States, into accepting a settlement.
In Washington, frustration with the Kremlin’s resistance to peace talks has grown. The tensions escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new sanctions on major Russian oil producers and canceled a planned summit with Vladimir Putin.
Speaking in his Saturday address, Zelensky reaffirmed Ukraine’s resolve, saying:
“Pokrovsk is a priority. We continue to destroy the occupier — that is what matters most. They must be stopped and destroyed where they stand.”
Footage shared with international news agencies appeared to show a Ukrainian Black Hawk helicopter deploying troops near Pokrovsk, though the exact location and timing could not be verified.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it had prevented the Ukrainian deployment, alleging that its forces killed 11 soldiers attempting to land by helicopter northwest of the city — a statement unconfirmed by Kyiv.
The Ukrainian monitoring group DeepState estimated that half of Pokrovsk remains a “gray zone,” meaning neither side holds full control. A Ukrainian military source in Donetsk told the BBC that while troops are not surrounded, supply routes are under constant Russian fire.
“The situation has changed dramatically,” the source said. “General Oleksandr Syrsky is now sending elite units to stabilize the front. The Armed Forces are not in a physical encirclement, but in an operational one — meaning all logistics are under threat.”
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in Washington assessed that Ukrainian forces have made limited counterattacks north of Pokrovsk, but described the city as a “contested gray zone” with intense fighting ongoing.
