Overview
- The Kremlin said Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Vladimir Putin that Russian forces captured Pokrovsk and Vovtchansk.
- Ukraine rejected the claim, saying it repelled more than 40 attacks near Pokrovsk and has not acknowledged losing either locality.
- Russia's Defense Ministry released a video presented as troops raising a flag in Pokrovsk's central square, which has not been independently verified.
- Pokrovsk sits at key road and rail junctions, and its loss would complicate Ukrainian resupply and heighten pressure on nearby Myrnohrad.
- The announcement came during sensitive U.S.–Ukraine consultations and shortly before U.S. emissary Steve Witkoff's planned talks in Moscow.