For Russian Troops, Pokrovsk Has Become "Gateway To Death"

Evidently determined to keep his audience of one in the White House convinced that his army remains functional, if not invincible, Putin continues to demand that his forces in the Pokrovsk sector keep up their fruitless attacks on Ukrainian defenses.

Since the new year, those attacks are going about as well as their predecessors in the previous two years, which is to say, lots of Russian casualties for no territorial gain. JL

Decimus reports in Daily Kos:

It appears that Syrskyi’s gambit of conducting a classic Feigned Retreat in late October 2025 then storming back in with a powerful counter-attack to reset Ukrainian lines at Pokrovsk seems to be paying off. Under political pressure from Putin, Russian commanders and their soldiers keep paying the toll exacted by the Ukrainians. Daily uncoordinated “banzai” attacks on Ukrainian lines invariably fail, petering out at the “toll gate”. In October alone, losses of Russian troops in this sector amounted to 25,000 people. These are confirmed losses.

They don’t call Pokrovsk the “Gateway to Donetsk” for nothing.

Infil squads, unconnected and spread around town, can be dealt with by cutting them off from their support and sending in highly trained Special Ops to “smoke ‘em out” and eliminate them ... as Ukraine is now successfully doing with the remaining small pockets of Russian infils at Kupiansk.

Holding the lines to prevent a major mechanized break through and reaching farther behind the line of contact and wreaking havoc on the enemy’s Ground Lines of Communication(GLOCs) as well as his troop concentrations whilst keeping your own GLOCs as short and open as possible has become key to the Ukrainian stalwart defense of Pokrovsk.  The battle for Pokrovsk, in short, has become a battle over GLOCs  … for both sides:

Banzai attacks' with no results: how Pokrovsk became trap for Russian forces

It is worth noting that the battle for Pokrovsk is increasingly turning into a struggle for logistics and resources, which is exhausting Russian forces."

global.espreso.tv/...

It would appear for now that Syrskyi’s gambit of conducting what looks like a classic Feigned Retreat in late October 2025 then storming back in with a powerful counter-attack to reset Ukrainian lines at Pokrovsk seems to be paying off: ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE: Syrskyi’s "October Surprise" at Pokrovsk. Retreat Then Counterattack

Under massive political pressure from Putin and the Kremlin, Russian commanders and their soldiers keep paying the toll exacted by the Ukrainians.  It’s quite stunning to see the high numbers of daily disjointed and uncoordinated “banzai” attacks on the Ukrainian lines which invariably fail. But the Russian “meat assaults” keep coming and petering out at the “toll gate”. Ukraine is willing to oblige them and has been imposing increasingly huge costs on the Russians:

"It is worth noting that in almost two years of combat operations in the Pokrovsk direction, the Russian army has lost about 1,000 units of armored vehicles and more than 500 tanks."

In this section of the front, the Russian army is also suffering catastrophic personnel losses. Personnel losses in the Pokrovsk direction are among the most serious for the Russian occupying army. They are comparable to the personnel strength of the entire Leningrad Military District.

"According to Western intelligence services, in October alone, losses of Russian troops in this direction amounted to about 25,000 people. These are confirmed losses, including those acknowledged by the Russian side."

In this section of the front, the Russian army is also suffering catastrophic personnel losses. Personnel losses in the Pokrovsk direction are among the most serious for the Russian occupying army. They are comparable to the personnel strength of the entire Leningrad Military District.

global.espreso.tv/...

 Russia continues to mass troops at the edges of Myrnohrad, perhaps sensing a potential for a successful breach of the Ukrainian defenses by sheer mass. But Chuck Pfarrer assesses in his map above that:

Though fighting remains widespread, no major Ru advances are confirmed; constant fighting in Myrnohrad is described as having no stable frontline in parts of the town.  No Russian breakthroughs in this AO [Area of Operations] are assessed as likely in the short and intermediate term.(emphasis mine)

At the Pokrovsk “toll gate”,  ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE is forcing the Russians into using even “the most combat-capable units in the format of so-called banzai attacks”. That is quite telling of how stalwart and adamantine the Ukrainian defense of the Pokrovsky sector has become.