Today, there are interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction.
Here, Ukrainian forces have launched a sweeping strike campaign targeting Russian bases, training camps, and troop concentrations across the whole Donbas front to bleed out Russia’s capacity for a renewed offensive. Coupled with the ground operations, these combined efforts have already inflicted 60,000 losses on the 110,000-strong initial Russian grouping since the start of the Pokrovsk offensive.

A repeated Ukrainian strike came in the aftermath of one of the most significant blows against the “Topaz” plant in Donetsk, which housed a Russian command post. Eyewitnesses reported again thick smoke, multiple explosions, and noticeable damage to repair and logistics facilities.


Meanwhile, other strikes in Donetsk have repeatedly hit troop concentrations, energy, and command infrastructure, preventing the Russians from regrouping smoothly or reestablishing staging areas, as confirmed by multiple released videos from the region.


Closer to the front line near Myrnohrad, Russian forces concentrations were also targeted by the Ukrainians. In one geolocated video, a Mig-29 dropped a GBU-62 J-dam bomb on a cluster of Russian assault troops along with a nearby ammunition storage, obliterating both the fighters and their supplies simultaneously. In another strike, a similar precision weapon demolished a building sheltering an enemy assault group, cutting off the Russian operation before it really started. Such strikes have undercut the Russian ability to mass troops or prepare joint assaults threatening Pokrovsk.

Essential strikes against Russian air defenses that are conducted in parallel, with every radar or air defense system destroyed meaning fewer obstacles for Ukrainian drones, missile launches, and fighter jets to reach high-value targets. For example, a Zoopark radar near Donetsk was destroyed after adjustment by a Shark reconnaissance drone, followed by a Himars artillery strike.

Two Pantsir-S1 systems were eliminated within 24 hours, one via Ram-2X drone strike, the other in Snizhne by another still unidentified Ukrainian drone, removing critical mobile air defense cover.

Near Donetsk, an expensive Russian Buk-M2 system costing more than 10 million US dollars was geolocated and knocked out by Himars, as visible on a video published by a Ukrainian drone unit.

Another Buk-M1 was first tracked to a warehouse by a drone and targeted there unsuccessfully, but when Russian crews attempted to move it, Ukrainian operators readjusted their fire and destroyed it in the follow-up strike.


These Ukrainian strikes have contributed to exceptional Russian losses in the Pokrovsk direction in the past ten months, while the Russian command repeatedly tried outflanking maneuvers, infiltrations, and direct assaults aiming to capture Pokrovsk and sever its supply routes.

Ukrainian analysts estimate that Russia has already lost around 60,000 soldiers, killed and wounded during the Pokrovsk offensive alone. The daily toll on Russian manpower and equipment has surged, particularly since the Russian breakthrough near Dobropillia failed and Ukrainian forces began isolating, cutting off, and eliminating trapped enemy units.

In addition, Ukrainian air raids against troop concentrations and training camps in the rear have taken out Russian units before they ever reach the frontline, reducing pressure on defenders and allowing Ukraine to repel assaults more efficiently, while the combined long-lasting strike campaign has added thousands of Russian losses to the statistic.

Ukraine is executing a well-synchronized, multi-layer campaign to first suppress Russian air defense, then strike command posts and logistical nodes, and finally funnel damage onto Russian forces in the rear or awaiting deployment. Because of these efforts, Russian attempts to mount large-scale assaults have been repeatedly delayed or canceled, as commanders suffer from the loss of staging bases, supply depots, repair facilities, and associated personnel. The heavy targeting of their command structure has left whole units and even divisions with confusing orders, disrupted communications, and fewer operational reserves.

Overall, Ukraine’s recent strikes on bases, training camps, and air defense systems represent more than tactical successes; they are strategically decisive in blunting, and in many cases halting, Russian plans to renew the offensive toward Pokrovsk. By striking rear areas and infrastructure, and by destroying air defenses that shield those targets, Ukraine not only protects its frontline but sets conditions where Russian forces must operate exposed and fragmented.

This gives Ukraine breathing room on multiple flanks, reduces incoming pressure, and raises the cost of any renewed Russian attack to levels that may not be sustainable, no matter how many additional units the Russian command transfers to this sector.

Comments