Supply routes to Pokrovsk turned into "roads of death"
Supply routes to the Ukrainian army garrison in the city of Pokrovsk have been turned into "roads of death" by Russian military fire.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•03/08/2025
The Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) have entered the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, causing panic in the Western and Ukrainian media, as well as Kiev's leadership; but in fact, they only partially describe the dire situation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), currently defending the area. The AFU General Staff was forced to admit that there were several deep-cover reconnaissance groups and RFAF commandos operating in the city. Many Ukrainian war correspondents wrote that Russian troops were moving freely west of Pokrovsk, near the city center. Currently, most of the AFU Pokrovsk Front Command has left the city.
The Russian troops' entry into the city of Pokrovsk was also confirmed by the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada ( parliament ) of Ukraine, Maryana Bezuglaya. Ms. Bezuglaya is one of the few people in Ukraine who dares to make very objective comments about what is happening on the front. It can be said that the RFAF attack on Pokrovsk was a full-scale assault, not an attack by special forces and reconnaissance groups, as the RFAF continued to encircle the city from both flanks. The main task was to cut off the supply lines of the Ukrainian troops stationed in the city. The RFAF’s clampdown on the Ukrainian garrison in Pokrovsk is well under way. “Although the Russians have not launched a full-scale offensive, the siege of Pokrovsk is tightening with each passing day,” an AFU officer told The Daily Telegraph, citing the British newspaper. “Some Ukrainian soldiers predict that the city could fall within days.” One of the main supply routes for the AFU garrison in Pokrovsk is through the town of Rodinskoye, located northeast of Pokrovsk. But yesterday, some sources said, the town was under RFAF control. The information was even confirmed by the Daily Telegraph, although the newspaper noted that Rodinskoye is not yet marked as Russian-controlled on online maps like the Deep State. However, according to the website of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry 's Main Intelligence Directorate, Chasov Yar is still partially controlled by the AFU, despite the Russian Defense Ministry claiming that they have completely overrun the city.
And the AFU's withdrawal from Pokrovsk, which Kiev certainly would not order, would be a difficult problem for the AFU front command in Pokrovsk. When the AFU could no longer hold the city, the threat would be looming over Pavlograd, because the road leading to the city, all open terrain, was difficult to defend. The road from Pokrovsk to Pavlograd is still usable on the AFU side, but it has long been under attack from Russian artillery and UAVs. If Russia succeeds in cutting off Ukraine’s logistics in Pokrovsk, Kiev will have no choice but to quickly withdraw its troops, or else fall into encirclement. A video filmed by Ukrainians posted on social media shows the supply route to the Pokrovsk region literally turned into a “road of death”; with the road littered with debris from vehicles and weapons destroyed by Russian fire. On August 2, Russian military expert Yuri Podolyaka wrote on his blog that units of the 2nd Guards Army Corps, part of the RFAF Central Group of Forces, are actively seeking to expand their presence in the Pokrovsk region. According to Podolyaka, neither the Russians nor the Ukrainians control many neighborhoods, while the AFU is severely short of infantry. Therefore, after breaking through the riverbank and entering through the forest belt, RFAF units are entering Pokrovsk “very often,” and Russian troops can be seen in many places in the city.
Podolyaka also said that the RFAF commander in Pokrovsk is taking advantage of the numerical superiority over the AFU and is trying to capture as much of the city as possible without a major offensive, by bypassing the enemy’s strong defenses from the southwest. This tactic is proving effective, as the Ukrainian army has been unable to push the Russians out of Pokrovsk. “The Ukrainians are pushing us out of some points, but while they are pushing us out of one or two points, we are entering the third, fourth, fifth, sixth; and now the enemy cannot do anything,” Podolyaka wrote. “Although the AFU is sending more reserves here, it is not possible to turn the situation around,” Podolyaka stressed. The day before, the villages of Chunyshino, Novoukrainka and Novoekonomicheskoe, located south and southeast of Pokrovsk, were completely under Russian control; in addition, the RFAF had achieved significant successes east of Mirnograd.
More than half of the area of the Central Enrichment Plant, a key AFU stronghold on the northeastern approach to Mirnograd, has been overrun by Russian troops. Overcoming this obstacle would open the way for the RFAF to directly penetrate residential areas in Mirnograd. South of Pokrovsk in the direction of Novopavlovsk, the Vostok RFAF Group closed the so-called "encirclement" north of Alekseyevka and continued attacks along the forest belts towards the border with Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, scattering the AFU forces in this direction of the front, preventing relief for Pokrovsk. (Photo source Military Review, Ukrinform, Kyiv Post, Liveuamap).
The AFU General Staff was forced to admit that there were several deep-cover reconnaissance groups and RFAF commandos operating in the city. Many Ukrainian war correspondents wrote that Russian troops were moving freely west of Pokrovsk, near the city center. Currently, most of the AFU Pokrovsk Front Command has left the city. 
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