‘Let them see what’s going on’: Putin ready to allow media where Russian troops ‘surround’ Ukrainian forces

Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted on Wednesday that Russian forces have successfully surrounded Ukrainian troops in two strategically vital eastern cities and offered terms for their surrender. However, Ukrainian military officials have firmly rejected the claims, insisting their defences remain intact.

Speaking from a Moscow military hospital, President Putin claimed that Ukrainian forces are currently encircled in Pokrovsk, a major stronghold in the Donetsk region, and Kupiansk, an important railway hub in the northeastern Kharkiv region. He suggested Russia would open safe corridors for Western journalists to confirm the situation on the ground, potentially pressuring Kyiv’s political leadership to accept a deal for their troops’ surrender.

Kyiv defiance and controlled situation

The Ukrainian military immediately pushed back against the Russian narrative.

Officials dismissed the claim that Kupiansk is surrounded as “fabrications and fantasies.” Meanwhile, a spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern forces stated that while the situation in Pokrovsk is “hard,” it remains “under control.”

Ukrainian forces acknowledged that Russia has deployed approximately 11,000 troops in a bid to encircle Pokrovsk, with some enemy units managing to infiltrate the city.

Despite the sustained pressure, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) also cast doubt on the Russian claims, reporting that while Russian forces have advanced in the Pokrovsk area, they “almost certainly do not currently control any positions within the city itself.”

President Putin’s military claims coincide with his diplomatic efforts to signal that further Western support for Ukraine is futile due to Russia’s perceived military superiority. The Russian President has repeatedly stressed that he remains committed to his war aims.

Meanwhile, small-scale engagements, including house-to-house battles and intense drone and artillery fire, are reported in both Pokrovsk and Kupiansk. The developments on the front line follow Russia’s push to leverage its significant advantage in troops and weaponry nearly four years into its invasion of Ukraine. Independent verification of the shifting battle lines remains impossible.