**Russian Forces Enter Strategic Ukrainian City of Pokrovsk Amid Fierce Battles, Kyiv Confirms**
Elements of Russia’s ground forces have entered the strategic Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv acknowledged, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing the situation as “difficult” due to “fierce” fighting in and around the regional center.
In his nightly video address on October 26, Zelenskyy said Russia had concentrated a large number of troops around Pokrovsk and the nearby Myrnohrad community, located in the long-contested eastern Ukraine region.
> “It is there, near Pokrovsk, that the Russians have concentrated their main strike force — a significant number of enemy troops,” Zelenskyy said.
> “Of course, this creates a difficult situation in Pokrovsk and all nearby areas — fierce battles in the city and on its outskirts. There are enemy reconnaissance and sabotage groups in the city.”
Despite the pressure, Zelenskyy insisted that Ukrainian forces were holding their main defensive lines.
> “We must continue destroying the occupiers; we must continue inflicting the greatest possible losses on the Russians. Russia’s plans for its offensive campaign have once again been shattered over the past ten months thanks to the bravery of our very own warriors,” he added.
### Strategic Importance of Pokrovsk
Pokrovsk, a city of about 7,000 inhabitants — down from more than 60,000 prewar — holds crucial road and rail junctions. It has been under threat of encirclement by Russian forces for much of the year.
In early October, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Russian troops had entered the city, though Ukrainian officials denied this at the time, stating Kremlin forces continued to suffer heavy losses.
On October 26, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that several small Russian infantry units, totaling approximately 200 soldiers, had breached defensive lines and were establishing positions inside Pokrovsk.
> “Since the beginning of the day, in the Pokrovsk direction, Russian units have tried 28 times to break through the Ukrainian defenses in the areas of [regional] settlements,” the General Staff said.
> “The defense forces are holding back enemy assaults. The enemy is suffering significant losses.”
Reports from the region could not be independently verified immediately.
### Ukrainian Strikes Inside Russia’s Belgorod Region
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were reported to be carrying out attacks inside Russia. Authorities in the Belgorod region said 16 people were injured in Ukrainian drone strikes near the border areas.
Early on October 27, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air-defense units shot down a drone flying toward the capital. Further details were not immediately available.
### Recent Drone Attacks Highlight Escalating Violence
The latest violence follows a Russian drone strike early on October 26 that hit a high-rise building in Kyiv, killing three people and injuring at least 33 others, including seven children.
Ukrainian officials also reported that at least 10 people were injured when a Russian drone struck a minibus near the eastern city of Sumy on the same day.
Ukraine continues to face nearly nightly attacks by Russian drones and missiles targeting apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other major cities far from the front lines. Moscow denies targeting civilian sites despite widespread evidence of such attacks.
In response, Kyiv has launched strikes on what it says are military-related infrastructure sites inside Russia, sometimes well beyond the border areas.
### Cease-Fire Efforts Stalled Amid Ongoing Conflict
Efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the nearly four-year-long war have stalled.
On October 25, former US President Donald Trump said he would not waste his time meeting with Vladimir Putin unless the Kremlin leader was ready to make a deal to end the war on Ukraine. Trump had spoken to Putin ten days earlier and mentioned plans to meet in Budapest, but later canceled the meeting, leaving open the possibility for it to be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, Putin’s top economic adviser, Kirill Dmitriev, has been in talks with US officials in the United States, expected to conclude on October 26. These discussions follow Washington’s recent imposition of fresh sanctions targeting Russia’s vital oil industry, which is crucial to financing the Kremlin’s military efforts.
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*Reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian and Russian Services, Reuters, and dpa.*
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-pokrovsk-russia-zelenkyy-putin-war/33570962.html
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