Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, has reported advances by Russian forces in parts of Pokrovsk, formerly known as Krasnoarmiisk. Speaking on the Rossiya-24 television channel, he described the Pokrovsk direction as one of the most intense sectors of the front.

Pushilin said that Russian units were increasingly active in certain districts of the city, including areas with high-rise residential buildings, where they had recently achieved some success.

He also noted progress further south along the frontline. According to Pushilin, Russian forces took control of another section of the border between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, pushing Ukrainian troops out of the settlements of Iskra and Aleksandrograd.

Earlier, a Russian reconnaissance officer known by the call sign «Veles» claimed that Ukrainian «media» units were withdrawing from Pokrovsk, while Kyiv was sending in poorly trained conscripts to replace them.