New Russian POWs Report 75% Losses Before Even Getting To Pokrovsk

As the scale of Russia's failure at Pokrovsk becomes clearer, Russian POWs are providing more detail about the reasons for their inability to exploit the initial infiltration. 

Chief among them is that relentless Ukrainian drone attacks discovered and then targeted the advancing Russians, leading to casualties of as much as 75% in some units, a figure generally considered catastrophic as it renders the force incapable of further combat. JL

Oleksandr Yan reports in Militarnyi:

Ukrainian units captured eleven Russian soldiers near the village of Volodymyrivka. It took the Russian infantry 14 days to march from occupied Selydove to Pokrovsk, which is about 25 kilometers, moving in small groups. At the same time, they spent 10 days traveling from the village of Pishchane to Zakhystnykiv Ukrayiny Street on the outskirts of Pokrovsk. Thus, every day, an enemy infantryman walked only 600 meters in the hope of not being detected. Drone drops provided communications, water, and food. 120 of the 150 saboteurs died on the way.

During the liberation of Volodymyrivka, the soldiers of the 253rd Arey Battalion captured a group of Russian soldiers, including residents of Makiivka and Mariupol.

A video of the interview with the prisoners was released by the UDA spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk.

Soldiers of the UDA assault unit reported significant tactical successes in the Pokrovsk sector and the capture of eleven Russian soldiers near the village of Volodymyrivka.

Among the captured invaders were nine soldiers of the 110th Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces (military unit 42600), which was formed in the occupied territories of the Donetsk region. In particular, two of those mobilized into the ranks of the enemy army were citizens of Ukraine who lived in Makiivka and Mariupol. Another one with Ukrainian citizenship lived in Kamchatka.

Also, the fighters of the Arey unit reported the capture of two more special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff. However, they were not present on the video.

The assault by the 253rd Battalion was part of a larger operation to capture and cut the ledge that had formed in the direction of the villages of Zolotyi Kolodyaz and Vesele in August.

During a visit to military units near Pokrovsk on August 24, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief publicly announced a successful counterattack in this area and the liberation of Mykhailivka, Zelenyi Hai, and Volodymyrivka.

The Commander-in-Chief did not say which military units carried out the counterattack, but named the brigades he visited: The 25th Airborne Brigade, the 68th Ranger Brigade, the 32nd, and the 155th Mechanized Brigades.

Map of hostilities in the Donetsk region as of August 26, 2025, according to DeepState

Militarnyi previously published an interrogation of other Russian prisoners taken by the 425th Skala Regiment on the outskirts of Pokrovsk, who spoke about the tactics of infiltrating the Ukrainian defense line.

It took the Russian infantry 14 days to march from occupied Selydove to Pokrovsk, which is about 25 kilometers long, moving in small groups.

At the same time, they spent 10 days traveling from the village of Pishchane to Zakhystnykiv Ukrayiny Street on the outskirts of Pokrovsk. Thus, every day, an enemy infantryman walked only 600 meters in the hope of not being detected. Drone drops provided communications, water, and food.

According to DeepState, 120 of the 150 saboteurs died on the way. The interrogation of prisoners also confirms this:

“We had a ninth company, two platoons – about 50 people in total… Eight people at most made it to Pokrovsk.”

Russian soldiers captured in Pokrovsk. July 2025. Photo credits: 425th Skala Separate Assault Regiment

On August 16, it was reported that the 7th Airborne Corps and related units had completely cleared Pokrovsk of Russian groups and individual saboteurs.