Overview
- Urban combat is ongoing with shifting frontlines, and multiple reports indicate Russian units have entered parts of Pokrovsk as large areas remain contested.
- Russia’s defense ministry says it neutralized an 11-man Ukrainian special-operations team and released videos showing purported prisoners, claims that have not been independently verified.
- Kyiv rejects Moscow’s account, says a complex operation to clear Russian forces is underway, and has reinforced defenses as a reported Black Hawk infiltration overseen by intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov seeks to reopen supply corridors.
- Ukrainian officials describe roughly 170,000 Russian troops massed along the contact line, and analysts note that taking Pokrovsk could open routes toward Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
- Beyond the city fight, Ukraine’s GUR claims strikes on the Koltsevoy oil pipeline, and damage to a power substation prompted IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to warn that attacks on the grid pose persistent nuclear-safety risks.