Today, the biggest news comes from the Pokrovsk direction, Donetsk Oblast.
Here, under relentless bombardment, Russian forces launched a high-risk assault aimed at slicing through Myrnohrad to trap Ukrainian defenders in the southern sector. But as fog descended on the ruins, Ukrainian marines moved in silently, and encircled the isolated assault unit—turning Russia’s bold gamble into a humiliating loss.
Russians try to trap Ukrainian troops but end up encircled
The moment Ukrainian forces completed their withdrawal from the southern part of Myrnohrad, Russian troops escalated their assaults along the flanks, making a last attempt to achieve the encirclement they had already publicly claimed was accomplished.
The tactical objective of Russian forces was to push into northern Myrnohrad and cut off the Ukrainian units positioned in the high-rises, as doing so would let them bypass the most dangerous district and isolate the Ukrainian defenders to a tightly restricted area. This would leave the Ukrainians inside without a ground line of communication, meaning only drones would be able to supply them. If the Russian forces cannot encircle the high-rise buildings, they will need to attack them directly, which will lead to heavy casualties.
Russians are conducting attacks from both the east and west, but without full control over the northern part of Pokvorsk, they cannot employ it as an effective springboard and lack the resources to leverage its advantages fully. Bad weather conditions, such as fog, continue to help the attackers to conceal their movement and advance undetected, because of the low visibility, but it also helps the Ukrainians to organize ambushes. The level of successful Ukrainian countermeasures shows that the Russian drones are affected as well, with enemy operators not able to provide sufficient drone surveillance.
Devastation in Myrnohrad helps Ukrainian ambush
In order to support ground operations and break the Ukrainian defense, the Russians are relentlessly bombarding Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk with approximately 15,000 shells per day, with all assaults being preceded by intense preparatory barrages.
Russians are also dropping, on average, 150 glide bombs per day, and as you can remember from a previous report, they are even using 3 ton Fab 3,000 bombs to completely level every structure. As a result, there is not a single building that remains intact in Myrnohrad, a town with a pre-war population of just 48,000. High-rise buildings are still standing, despite the continuous strikes, but all have already suffered damage, which compromises their ability to be used effectively as defense strongholds.
Fog and destruction help Ukraine ambush Russian troops in central Myrnohrad
This level of the devastation has opened gaps in the Ukrainian defensive lines, which Russian units quickly exploited in their newest push to penetrate further into the heart of the town. Russi
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an forces further capitalized on their foothold in the northeastern part of the town, treating it as a launchpad for fresh assaults and slipping out of their shelters the moment fog settled over the streets. 80 percent of these infiltrators are typically detected on the outskirts due to the heavy presence of Ukrainian drones overhead, but amid the relentless tempo of assaults, one Russian unit managed to slip past unnoticed.
Geolocated footage reveals four Russian soldiers attempting to set up a position inside a roofless, shattered building located in central Myrnohrad. The sheer level of destruction ultimately worked against the Russians, enabling a Ukrainian drone to detect their movements and transmit the house’s coordinates to Ukrainian infantry units on the ground. Ukrainian marines also took advantage of the fog, moving to encircle the unsuspecting Russian team, which was clearly operating blind without any aerial drone support.
The entire Russian unit was ambushed and compelled to surrender on the spot, offering no resistance when confronted with an overwhelming disadvantage that would have otherwise meant certain death. Recognizing the hopelessness of their situation, the soldiers stepped out of their shelter with their hands raised, yielding themselves to the Ukrainian troops. Despite the difficulties of urban combat, the Ukrainians were able to capture the enemies and interrogate them to gather intel and use them later as part of the exchange fund for prisoners of war.
Russian failures in Myrnohrad show limits of firepower in urban combat
Overall, the collapse of Russia’s latest assault on northern Myrnohrad highlights the limits of its offensive strategy, even when backed by massive bombardment. Ukrainian marines continue to demonstrate tactical discipline, using terrain, weather, and superior coordination to outmaneuver and dismantle Russian advances.
This engagement further exposes the widening gap between Russia's battlefield claims and its actual capacity to deliver breakthroughs, particularly in complex urban environments like Myrnohrad.
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.
