The fog of war in Pokrovsk and conflicting information between Russia and Ukraine

Russia's attacks on the strategic city of Pokrovsk as well as statements from Ukraine are becoming the focus of public opinion.

In the Donetsk battlefield, hundreds of thousands of artillery shells are fired by the Russian and Ukrainian armies every day. In the midst of this fiery battlefield, a city called Pokrovsk is increasingly becoming a key factor in determining the course of the conflict. This small city now carries the strategic ambitions of both sides.

Recently, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov, personally inspected the Russian Armed Forces (RFAF) fighting on the Donetsk front. Amid trenches and armored vehicles, he declared to the soldiers that the RFAF is maintaining an offensive position on almost all sides of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, at the presidential palace in the capital Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed to the media that the RFAF had suffered a defeat in the direction of the Sumy front, one of the four main offensive fronts. The statements of the two leaders of the two sides contradicted each other, like the “fog of war”.

Standing in front of a map at the forward command post, General Gerasimov detailed the advance of the main Russian forces: Army Group West was steadily advancing into the Kupyansk area of ​​Kharkov province, while Army Group East was simultaneously attacking Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia provinces.

This multifaceted tactic was clearly aimed at dispersing Ukraine’s defenses. However, in the press conference room in the basement of the presidential palace, Mr. Zelensky presented reporters with a different set of data: Due to heavy casualties, the RFAF was no longer able to sustain a large-scale offensive, and the counterattack in the direction of Sumy in particular had been completely stopped.

Meanwhile, fighting has intensified around the small city of Pokrovsk, a key point in the Donbass defences, and Russian capture would overwhelm Ukraine’s main forces.

To achieve this goal, the Ukrainian army (AFU) deployed its most elite forces to the Pokrovsk region. According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the entire city was turned into a military fortress, and the AFU even launched a counterattack, successfully stopping the Russian advance.

Faced with the battlefield situation, the RFAF changed its tactics. Instead of large-scale attacks, they deployed small infantry units, using the summer bush as cover, to conduct reconnaissance infiltrations from multiple directions, to detect weak points in the AFU's defense line.

This tactic, while reducing RFAF casualties, significantly slowed the advance. In the cornfields outside Pokrovsk, small groups of Russian soldiers were often seen moving stealthily under cover of night.

The highlight of this battle was the UAV confrontation between the two sides. The commander of the 413th UAV Battalion of Ukraine claimed that their aerial reconnaissance units created one-sided transparency on the battlefield, successfully preventing the RFAF from concentrating its forces.

However, this has also created a crisis: their UAVs on the front lines are being depleted at a rate three times faster than production at home. Worse still, 60% of the new UAVs procured by the government have quality problems. The shortage of these “flying telescopes” could be a crucial factor in deciding the fate of Pokrovsk.

On September 18, the Polish Defense Minister visited Kiev and signed a cooperation agreement on UAV training. It is clear that the Polish military recognizes the value of Ukraine's combat experience in transforming NATO's tactics.

At training grounds outside Kiev, Polish military advisers have been seen instructing Ukrainian soldiers on the use of new UAVs that Poland has recently developed. It is possible that Poland will use the Ukrainian battlefield to test its UAVs in combat, through its partner AFU.

Pokrovsk's strategic importance is as the transport hub of Donetsk Oblast, which is known as the "industrial heart" of Ukraine. Pokrovsk is also the coal mining center of Ukraine and a key center in Kiev's eastern defense system.

Since the start of the war, Pokrovsk has served as a vital supply artery. If captured by Russian forces, it would not only cut off Ukraine’s supply lines, but also provide a springboard for an advance on Dnipropetrovsk, potentially threatening central Ukraine.

General Gerasimov’s all-out offensive and President Zelensky’s declaration of defeat for Russia have created a strange parallel on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield. The real situation of the battle is like the smoke rising from Pokrovsk, clear but elusive.

Daily information from all sides reaches the world with inexplicable contradictions, but only the soldiers on the Pokrovsk frontline know what is really going on on the land that has been plowed countless times by artillery fire. (photo source: Military Review, Sohu, TASS, Kyiv Post).

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