09:15 17-11-2025

GUR Fighter’s Account of the Failed Pokrovsk Air Landing

A captured GUR fighter recounts the ill-prepared air landing near Pokrovsk, the heavy losses after touchdown, and how Russian troops eventually found him.

Russian forces say a captured Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) serviceman revealed that the Ukrainian special-operations unit sent to break the encirclement in Pokrovsk had been deployed with virtually no clear instructions from its command. The account appeared in a video released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, in which the soldier identified himself as Ruslan Shakhun.

According to Shakhun, he took part in a helicopter air-landing operation intended to relieve Ukrainian positions in Pokrovsk. He was later captured by troops of the 30th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian «Center» group.

Shakhun said the unit had not been given a defined mission. They were simply told to disembark from the helicopter and move in a designated direction-nothing more.

He claimed that at least eleven or twelve fighters were wounded almost immediately after landing, before they even reached the nearest buildings. Shakhun himself was injured by a drone strike that damaged his leg and cost him several toes.

Trying to escape Russian UAV attacks, he said he became entangled in barbed wire, shed his gear and took cover inside a building. After several days, he crawled to the ruins of another structure and began calling for help. Russian soldiers eventually heard him.

He said they pulled him out, helped him move, and provided first aid.

Russian servicemen had earlier reported the destruction of GUR special-forces units operating in the Pokrovsk area.