Overview
- Ukraine’s General Staff logged 226 combat engagements on December 1, citing 66 airstrikes, 192 guided bombs, 3,547 artillery attacks and 3,228 kamikaze drones.
- On the Pokrovsk axis, Ukrainian forces reported stopping 72 assaults in the past day and said they hold the city’s northern sector along the railway while conducting clearance operations.
- Kyiv rejected Russian claims of taking Pokrovsk, Vovchansk and Kupyansk, calling circulated flag‑planting videos propaganda; open‑source analysts and ISW describe control as contested, not fully seized.
- By 16:00 on December 2, Ukraine reported 131 new clashes, with the fiercest fighting on the Pokrovsk, Lyman and Kostyantynivka directions, and said 32 of 36 attacks near Pokrovsk had been repelled.
- ISW assessed the Kremlin’s capture narratives as part of cognitive operations intended to influence diplomacy as U.S. envoy Steve Vitkoff meets Russian officials in Moscow.