Pokrovsk: The strategically important city that's next on Putin's hit list
Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has set its sights on another major city as it continues to drive further west.
Following the conquests of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, Moscow is now preparing to attack Pokrovsk in Donetsk, which is home to 60,000 Ukrainians and serves as a major transportation hub for Kyiv's forces on the frontline in that sector.
The Russians are reportedly two miles from the city, also seen as a gateway to the rest of the Donetsk region.
Over the past year, Russia has pushed the Ukrainians back 27 miles, captured the coal mining town of Vuhledar and surrounded the Donetsk city of Avdiivka, which later fell.
If the city of Pokrovsk becomes Putin's next victim, his forces could feasibly turn north and head towards the region's administrative capital Kramatorsk.
The Donetsk is one of Russia's four main war aims, and if its troops push further westwards, they could reach the border of Donetsk and Luhansk - the two oblasts that make up the Donbas.
If the Russian president can capture these areas, he will have a strong bargaining chip if both sides ever agree to peace talks.
Furthermore, it will force Ukrainian commanders to redeploy troops from elsewhere on the frontline.
But while it might be a territorial victory for Russia, the cost of taking Pokrovsk has been staggering.
Reportedly, Russia has suffered 150,000 casualties in this campaign alone – the same size of the army it sent to invade Ukraine in 2022.
In December 2024, Ukraine claimed to have killed or wounded at least 20,000 Russian troops in the fight for Pokrovsk.
It also claimed to have destroyed 582 battle tanks, 1,220 armoured vehicles and 90 artillery pieces.
So far, the combined losses for the battle are higher than the German army's overall losses during the battle of Stalingrad in 1942.
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