Russian 'Mad Max' troops take over Pokrovsk – denied by Zelenskyj

Russian troops entered the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine on Monday. This is reported by both Russian and Ukrainian media. However, claims of Russian successes are denied by Kiev.

A video clip circulating on social media shows Russians taking advantage of dense fog to advance from the south along the E50 highway. The Russian forces are on foot or traveling on motorcycles, cars, and similar vehicles.

“Welcome to the Mad Max world. This is what war looks like now. Keep working, brothers! And thank God for the fog!” writes a pro-Russian account on Telegram.

Is this evidence of the Russians’ lack of weapons? An adaptation to drone warfare, where it is not considered worthwhile to invest in more expensive combat vehicles? Or is what we are seeing only an advance party, with heavier vehicles to follow later? Opinions differ.

City’s southern entrance

The video has been geolocated to the southern entrance of Pokrovsk. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which is part of the circle around the American top diplomat Victoria Nuland, has previously reported that Russia controls most of the city.

However, Ukrainian sources do not acknowledge that Pokrovsk has fallen. The Ukrainian OSINT channel Deepstate has not updated its map in the last two days, and has colored most of the city light gray.

It is claimed that the city is in a gray zone between the two warring parties. And that Ukrainian forces continue to resist.

Denied by Zelenskyj

Even a couple of the most pro-Ukrainian propaganda channels report on the Russian advances. For example, Unian writes that “the fog is clearly not on our side” and about “orchestras entering the city”.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj denies the claims in a video he uploads to Youtube from Kiev, over 60 miles away, on Monday evening.

“There have been reports from the front. It is very important that the occupiers have not achieved any significant results. The direction towards Pokrovsk, the areas around Dobropillja, and the Donetsk region in general – we are defending our positions,” he says in it.

The president is supported by his chief of defense, Oleksandr Syrskyj.

“The notion that the enemy has practically taken everything and is about to finish this is not true,” Syrskyj tells New York Post.

Urban combat

The battle for Pokrovsk has been ongoing since the end of last summer. According to the Ukrainian chief of defense, the assessment is that about 150,000 Russians are participating in the battle. This is more than a fifth of the Russian soldiers he claims are in Ukraine.

Before the war, Pokrovsk had about 60,000 inhabitants. This is roughly the same as in Sundsvall or Karlstad. Today, the city is almost completely deserted, and the devastation is extensive.

Pokrovsk being evacuated, August 2024. Photo: Ukrainian military

For Russia, Pokrovsk is an important city to conquer in order to continue north, towards Kramatorsk and Slovjansk. Even larger cities that the Kremlin claims as they are located in the Russian-speaking Donetsk oblast. Kramatorsk also serves as the regional capital since 2014.

But urban combat is difficult for an attacker. And the Ukrainians are doing their utmost to utilize all the buildings, basements, and nooks that Pokrovsk has to offer them.

“From our urban areas, we can hold back large numbers of hostile troops,” says Oleksandr Syrskyj.