Ukrainian forces strike Russian troop cluster near Pokrovsk in Donbas

SSO units struck the building with drones as personnel from the 1st and 9th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigades gathered there. The Russians were building up forces under cover of weather conditions.

The 51st Army's units are tasked with encircling the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration from the north.

Despite adverse weather, the drones successfully reached their targets, the SOF said. Enemy losses are still being clarified.

Situation near Pokrovsk

The Pokrovsk axis remains one of the hottest front-line sectors for months, where Russian forces are actively pressing Ukrainian defenses and attempting one of the largest objectives in Donetsk Oblast — capturing Pokrovsk, the DeepState monitoring portal noted.

Special units from military intelligence parachuted into the city, where fighting continues, and established a ground corridor.

Fighters from the Security Service of Ukraine's Alpha Center have been conducting combat operations on the Pokrovsk axis for an extended period. The SBU said that after the operational-combat situation escalated in the sector, the number of Alpha fighters there increased significantly.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration must hold back pressure from a multi-thousand Russian group that continues attempts to infiltrate residential areas and cut supply routes.

However, Syrskyi stressed: there is no encirclement or blockade of the cities. A comprehensive operation is underway to destroy Russian forces and push them out of Pokrovsk, he said.

Still, some soldiers who spoke to hromadske expressed doubts about the ability to clear the city due to the enemy's superiority.