Elements of Russia’s ground forces have entered the strategic Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv acknowledged, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labeling the situation there as “difficult” with “fierce” battles flaring in and around the regional center.
Zelenskyy, in his October 26 nightly video address, said Russia had concentrated large numbers of forces around Pokrovsk and the nearby Myrnohrad community in the long-fought-over region in eastern Ukraine.
"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."
Still, Zelenskyy insisted 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 said.
Russians Have Long Targeted Pokrovsk
Pokrovsk, a city of about 7,000 inhabitants -- down from more than 60,000 prewar -- holds crucial road and rail junctions and has been under threat of encirclement by Russian forces for most of the year.
In early October, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russian troops had entered the city, but Ukrainian officials at the time denied the report and said Kremlin forces continued to suffer heavy losses in the region.
On October 26, Ukraine’s General Staff said several small Russian infantry units -- totaling some 200 soldiers -- had evaded 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," it said.
"The defense forces are holding back enemy assaults. The enemy is suffering significant losses," the General Staff said.
Reports of attacks on could not independently verified.
Russian Officials Say Multiple Regions Hit
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were reported to be striking again inside Russia. Authorities in the Belgorod region said 16 people were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks near the border areas.
Early on October 27, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air-defense units had shot down at least 34 Ukrainian drones flying toward the capital. Details were not immediately available, but two of the city's four airports -- Domodedovo and Zhukovsky -- were temporarily closed.
In Russia's Tula region near the capital, some 24 Ukrainian drones were shot down early on October 27, the regional governor said. Separately, the governor of the Bryansk region said one person was killed and five injured in a drone attack there.
The latest violence comes after a Russian drone strike early on October 26 hit a high-rise building in Kyiv, killing three people and injured at least 33 others, including seven children.
Ukrainian officials also reported on October 26 that at least 10 people were injured when a Russian drone struck a minibus near the eastern city of Sumy.
Ukraine continues to endure nearly nightly attacks by Russian drones and missiles that hit apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv and other major cities far from the front line.
Moscow denies targeting civilian sites despite widespread evidence of such attacks. Kyiv has responded by hitting what it says are military-related infrastructure sites inside Russia, sometimes far from the border.
Cease-Fire Efforts Stall
Efforts to bring about a cease-fire in the nearly four-year long war have stalled.
On October 25, US President Donald Trump said he was not going "to be wasting my time” by meeting with Putin if the Kremlin leader is not ready to make a deal to end his war on Ukraine.
Trump spoke to Putin 10 days ago and said he planned to meet him in Budapest within the next few weeks. However, the US president later canceled the meeting, although he said it could take place at another time.
Putin's top economic adviser, Kirill Dmitriev, has been meeting with US officials in the United States in talks expected to wrap up on October 26. Those talks come after Washington imposed fresh sanctions targeting Russia's oil industry -- which is crucial to filling the Kremlin’s coffers and to fund the war.
