Overview
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces counted 314 Russian soldiers operating inside Pokrovsk.
- Moscow claimed its troops captured 64 buildings in and around the city and asserted Ukrainian units are nearly encircled, a characterization Kyiv disputes as it hunts infiltrators.
- Ukrainian officials reported 220 Russian attacks in 72 hours and said nearly a third of all active battles along the front are concentrated in the Pokrovsk area.
- Pokrovsk’s rail junction would give Russia a pathway toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, and its loss would mark the largest Ukrainian city captured since Bakhmut in May 2023.
- Vladimir Putin ordered reviews on resuming nuclear test preparations after reporting that President Trump directed the Pentagon to begin testing, raising tensions beyond the battlefield.