 "Putin hails Pokrovsk ‘capture’, calls gain crucial for Russia’s wider war goals")
President Vladimir Putin praised what his commanders described as the full Russian capture of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, calling it a major achievement after a prolonged campaign and saying it would help advance Moscow’s wider war goals.
Russia, which refers to the city by its Soviet-era name, Krasnoarmeysk, has been fighting to take Pokrovsk since mid-2024, facing strong Ukrainian resistance in what had been a crucial logistics hub for Kyiv’s forces.
“I want to thank you. This is an important direction. We all understand just how important,” Putin, wearing military uniform and seated in a command centre, told senior military officials in a video released by the Kremlin late on Monday. “It will ensure solutions going forward to the tasks that we initially set at the beginning of the special military operation,” he said, repeating Moscow’s term for its nearly four-year campaign in Ukraine.
If confirmed, the capture would give Russian forces a platform to push north towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the two biggest Ukrainian-held cities left in the Donetsk region.
Russia seeks full control of Donbas
Moscow aims to seize the entire Donbas region, which includes the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk where Pokrovsk is located. Kyiv and its Western allies reject Russia’s claims as an unlawful land grab they remain committed to resisting.
Ukraine has not yet commented. In recent weeks, it said its forces were holding back Russian advances in the northern part of the city, which had a pre-war population of more than 60,000 and lies near Ukraine’s only source of coking coal minerals.
Reuters could not independently verify claims from either side. Maps issued by both Russia and Ukraine have long shown Pokrovsk under severe Russian pressure, with Moscow’s forces embedded deep inside the city.
Quick Reads
View AllThe announcement comes as the United States accelerates efforts to broker a peace agreement for Ukraine, with Putin due to meet in Moscow on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Capture may strengthen Moscow’s negotiating leverage
Russian analysts say that securing Pokrovsk — Moscow’s most significant territorial gain in Ukraine since the fall of Avdiivka in early 2024 — could bolster Russia’s position in any future talks. They argue it demonstrates meaningful progress in Donetsk at a time when Putin is urging Kyiv to give up the remaining territory.
They also warn that Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, to the west of Pokrovsk, could become more vulnerable to further Russian moves, given Russian claims of a foothold there.
The development led Russia’s morning news coverage on state-run Channel One, which aired video of soldiers calmly raising a Russian flag in what appeared to be the city centre, with wider shots showing heavy destruction. A time stamp indicated Putin’s statement and command-centre visit took place on Sunday. Its release late on Monday appeared timed ahead of talks in Moscow with US negotiators.
Russian commanders report ‘clean-up operations’
Valery Solodchuk, commander of the Centre group of forces, told Putin that Russian troops were conducting clean-up operations around Pokrovsk and in nearby Myrnohrad, where he claimed up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trapped.
Commanders also informed Putin that Russian troops were advancing along the entire frontline and had taken the frontline town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region as part of efforts to establish a security zone. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the fall of Vovchansk, known in Russian as Volchansk.
Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russia’s General Staff, told Putin that Russian forces were determined to push ahead with capturing the entire Donbas region.
 "Imran Khan’s sister allowed to meet him in Rawalpindi jail")
 "After success of Russia’s S-400 in Op Sindoor, why India wants its more advanced version")
 "Why Trump’s MRI tests and ‘healthy’ diagnosis raise more questions about his fitness")
 "Trump tried an Argentina on Honduras. And it seems to have worked")
 "Imran Khan’s sister allowed to meet him in Rawalpindi jail")
 "After success of Russia’s S-400 in Op Sindoor, why India wants its more advanced version")
 "Why Trump’s MRI tests and ‘healthy’ diagnosis raise more questions about his fitness")
 "Trump tried an Argentina on Honduras. And it seems to have worked")
