Pokrovsk’s Liberation Demonstrates Russia’s New De-Mechanized Urban Assault Tactics
The Daily Telegraph reports Russia used de-mechanized tactics — small assault groups instead of armored columns — to capture Pokrovsk, opening the way toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.
The Daily Telegraph reported that the liberation of Pokrovsk by Russian forces has shifted the course of the conflict, as it demonstrated a new method of capturing a city. According to the newspaper, earlier in the war both sides attempted to encircle urban areas using columns of tanks and infantry. Now, however, Russian forces rely on small assault groups that, especially in fog, are difficult for drones to track. The outlet described this approach as a «de-mechanization of warfare,» referring to a reduced dependence on armored and mechanized formations.
Pokrovsk is one of the key coal-industry centers of Donbass. Fighting for the agglomeration began in 2024, and the active phase resumed in the spring of 2025. Before the conflict, more than 370,000 people lived in the area; now the population is around 2,000. The city serves as a major transport hub in the region, including the junction railway station of Pokrovsk. For the Ukrainian Armed Forces, it held significant logistical value, as routes toward Slavyansk, Zaporozhye and Dnepropetrovsk passed through it.
With Pokrovsk now fully under Russian control, Russian forces can advance toward Druzhkovka, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic.