Ukraine’s 7th Airborne Assault Corps says dense fog has played into Russia’s tactical advantage, enabling its troops to advance further into Pokrovsk, a strategically crucial city in Donetsk region.
The weather conditions, combined with intensified Russian assaults, have allowed Moscow to deploy additional troops in a bid to encircle Ukrainian units holding out in the devastated city.
After more than a year of fighting for control, Ukraine’s army estimates 300–500 Russian troops are now inside Pokrovsk. President Zelensky acknowledged that the front line remains “extremely challenging.”
Ukraine’s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says the front line in Zaporizhzhia has “significantly worsened,” confirming the loss of three settlements.
He noted that Russia’s main push remains focused on Pokrovsk, where intense battles continue.
A viral clip online shows Russian troops moving through thick fog in civilian vehicles and motorbikes, reportedly near the embattled city.
Investigations by the BBC confirmed that the footage showing Russian troops was captured on the Selidove-Pokrovsk highway, just outside the southern perimeter of the city.
For days, thick fog blanketed the area, blinding aerial reconnaissance.
A Ukrainian drone pilot with the 68th brigade’s “Shershni Dovbusha” unit, known by the call sign “Goose,” said the weather allowed Russian forces to “dare” an assault in vehicle columns — a move that would have been unthinkable under normal drone surveillance conditions.
In an interview with the BBC, a Ukrainian drone operator, call sign “Goose,” said his unit has routinely identified and eliminated Russian infiltration teams advancing on foot or motorbikes. He confirmed their participation in repelling the assault shown in the viral video, reportedly filmed on Sunday.
Goose noted that while a portion of the convoy was destroyed, limited visibility due to heavy fog prevented aerial verification of the attack’s full impact.
Just a week ago, Volodymyr Zelensky said there were about 300 Russian troops battling in Pokrovsk. But the latest verified footage and battlefield reports tell a darker story — Moscow’s forces have multiplied, and on Wednesday, Ukraine’s military confirmed that southern Pokrovsk is now occupied.
Mapping data from DeepState, a Ukrainian monitoring group, shows Russian troops tightening their grip. Some analysts warn that the city’s fall is now only a matter of time.
For soldiers like “Goose,” the fight has become dangerously close quarters. “Most of the city is a grey zone,” he said. “We might hold one building, but the Russians are already in the next. They’re trying to get behind us.”
Russian forces are seeking to encircle Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad, forming what military analysts call a “cauldron” — a tactical trap designed to isolate Ukrainian troops.
Even without completing the encirclement, FPV drone dominance allows Russian units to control and strike all logistical routes in and out of the contested zone.
Ukrainian counterattacks in Suvorove and Rodynske have, however, stretched the Russian flanks, creating a temporary buffer against full encirclement.
A Ukrainian drone operator, speaking to the BBC, confirmed that Russia continues to target supply lines with drones, artillery, and small infantry incursions aimed at severing Pokrovsk’s resupply channels.
It’s a tactic the Russians call infiltration, and according to Ukrainian military analyst Kostyantyn Mashovets, it’s been alarmingly effective.
By targeting Ukraine’s FPV drone operators, Moscow’s troops are blinding Kyiv’s front-line defences, allowing small, stealthy groups to slip through unnoticed.
Inside cities, Mashovets says, some Russian soldiers even don disguises — as locals or Ukrainian troops — to stir panic and disorder. Once confusion sets in, the main Russian forces move in to crush resistance.
Beyond Pokrovsk, Russian forces are applying pressure along the wider front, notably near Kupyansk in the northeast and across the Zaporizhzhia axis in the south.
According to Joint Forces Operation spokesperson Viktor Tregubov, Russian reports of a Kupyansk encirclement are false, though he conceded that enemy troops have advanced into the southern outskirts, creating a challenging tactical environment.
Source: BBC News
