18 February 2025. Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Pokrovsk direction, Donetsk Oblast, with new details on Ukraine’s operation to liberate Pishchane.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Here, as Ukrainian forces closed in on Pishchane, they leveraged recent territorial gains to weaken Russian defenses. With Russian troops at a severe disadvantage, Ukrainian assault units are moving in to finish the fight to secure a key tactical position that could shift the battle for Pokrovsk.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Strategic importance of Pishchane settlement
The goal of the Ukrainian forces in this area is to take complete control of the settlement of Pishchane. Pishchane provides Russian forces with a launching pad to conduct assaults directly towards the Pokrovsk agglomeration.
Ukrainians reclaim Pishchane near Pokrovsk from Russian occupation, military confirms
Also, it has multiple crossing points that Russians could use to transfer armored vehicles over the Solona River, which can be used by Russians to develop their western flanking operation further.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Ukrainian tactical pressure and approach
To push the Russians out, Ukrainians put constant pressure on the Russian forces stationed in Pishchane with intense drone strikes and precision fire. This is meant to weaken the Russian garrison to the point that Ukrainians can launch a mechanized ground assault to eliminate the remaining survivors and reclaim the settlement for their own.
Ukrainian positional and terrain advantages
The main advantage of the Ukrainian forces in this area is the direct road link between Zvirove and Pishchane, allowing them to advance quickly into the settlement and minimize exposure to Russian fire. On top of that, there is a strong Ukrainian trench network located on the crossroad only one kilometer away from Pishchane.
This means that the soldiers in this fortification can provide additional fire support to the advancing assault group with mortars and sniper fire, which can effectively suppress Russian soldiers in the settlement, preventing them from directly targeting the Ukrainian column.
On top of that, if we look at the topographic map, we can see that the recently retaken trench network north of Pischane overlooks Russian positions in the lowlands.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
This allows the Ukrainians to observe Russian movements in and out of the village, while also enforcing fire control from an additional angle ahead of their assaults.
Russian disadvantages and defensive challenges
The main disadvantage for Russian forces in this area is the overwhelming presence of Ukrainian drones, which continuously conduct reconnaissance and precision strikes on Russians moving in and into the town.
Given Pishchane’s small size, Ukrainian drone operators can quickly observe and target all Russian positions within the village, preventing them from establishing an effective all-round defense, with Ukrainians closing in all around them.
Frontline report: Ukrainians reclaim key Russian stronghold in Pokrovsk sector
As Russian soldiers could not move out in the open without risking being immediately targeted by Ukrainian drones, artillery, or sniper fire, they retreated into basements and houses, effectively blinding themselves against any Ukrainian ground assault.
Drone warfare and ground assault
Geolocated footage reveals how Ukrainian drone operators detected several Russian soldiers who attempted to hide in a basement in Pishchane. However, the drone dropped a heavy landmine repurposed as a bomb, causing a large detonation that eliminated the Russian soldiers.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Ukrainian soldiers reported that they had been softening up Russian defenses like this constantly over the past few days, allowing infantry assault groups to come in and systematically clean up the survivors.
Footage shows how Ukrainian assault groups entered the settlement and provided covering fire to allow a soldier to move closer to a cellar Russians were hiding in, throwing in a thermobaric grenade to clear it instantly. Thermobaric grenades are much more effective in such enclosed environments as they do not rely on shrapnel to kill; the delayed explosion first sucks in the surrounding oxygen, which then rapidly expands during the explosion, creating a deadly blast wave that penetrates around corners and through walls. After wiping out several Russian squads hiding underground, the surviving Russian soldiers quickly left the basements to surrender, knowing they had no other way out.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
In the end, Ukrainians carefully exploited their tactical advantages around Pishchane and eliminated Russian forces in the village, taking back control in a systematic clearing operation.
- Screenshot from Reporting From Ukraine’s video.
Strategic outcomes and implications for Russian forces
In losing Pishchane as their staging ground, Russian forces are no longer able to launch direct assaults toward Pokrovsk, which will likely lead to renewed costly assaults over the open fields. In the combined operations on the west flank of Pokrovsk, Ukrainians are systematically dismantling the threat of the Russian pincer maneuver, while Russians are slowly losing their progress after weeks of incredibly heavy losses.
In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Related:
- Frontline report: Ukrainians reclaim key Russian stronghold in Pokrovsk sector
- Frontline report: Ukrainian precision counterstrikes near Pokrovsk exhausted Russian forces to breaking point
- Artillery shortage forces Russians to deploy improvised weapons, expert says
- Russia deploys advanced 12-channel Shahed drones to strike Mykolaiv, leaving 100,000 without heating
- Ukrainians reclaim Pishchane near Pokrovsk from Russian occupation, military confirms
- ISW: Russian advance near Donetsk’s Pokrovsk slows as focus may shift to Kostiantynivka in 2025
