Name: Why is Russia trying so hard to capture Ukraines Pokrovsk?
Uploaded: 2025-12-02T16:38:28.571Z
Duration: 3 min 22 s
Description: Russian President Vladimir Putin said his commanders reported in early December a full capture of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, hailing it as an important victory after a prolonged campaign - a claim the Ukrainian military continued to dismiss.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his commanders reported in early December a full capture of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, hailing it as an important victory after a prolonged campaign - a claim the Ukrainian military continued to dismiss.

Pokrovsk

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Russia's Defense Ministry released footage claiming its soldiers were in the center of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, and reported to President Vladimir Putin that the city had been fully captured. However, Ukraine's military, which has been defending Pokrovsk since mid-2024, dismissed these claims and stated that it still holds parts of the city. 

Pokrovsk is strategically significant due to its location on vital supply routes and its proximity to Ukraine's only coking coal mine. Capturing the city would provide Russia with a platform to advance toward other major Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk and mark its most important territorial gain since early 2024. Both sides have reported heavy losses, and independent verification of battlefield claims remains difficult due to reporting restrictions.

Why is Russia trying so hard to capture Ukraine's Pokrovsk?

Russia's Defense Ministry released footage at the start of December set to show its soldiers in the center of Pokrovsk. The Kremlin said military commanders have reported to President Vladimir Putin a full capture of the eastern Ukrainian rail and road hub, along with another town to its north. Ukraine's military, which has been fending off Russian advances in Pokrovsk since mid-2024, dismissed the claims. So why has Russia fought so long for its control? Pokrovsk is a logistics and transport base in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. It sits on a key road used by the Ukrainian military to supply other outposts. Its pre-war population of 60,000 have now mostly fled the battered city. Nearby is Ukraine's only mine producing coking coal, used in its once vast steel industry. Operations are currently suspended. Through to late November, Ukraine was still known to be in control of about 10% of the Donbass region, which Russia wants in its entirety. It's an area of just under 2,000 square miles in the northern Donetsk Oblast, or province in the Donbass. Russian media calls Pokrovsk the gateway to Donetsk. Capturing it would give Moscow a platform to drive north, towards the two biggest remaining Ukrainian-controlled cities in Donetsk, Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. Here's Rob Lee, senior fellow at the US-based Foreign Policy Research Unit, in an interview in November. I think Slovyansk, Kramatorsk is really still the most kind of vital, important part of Donetsk Oblast for Ukraine to defend. It is still really the centre for command and control, for logistics, and for holding much of the front line it kind of operates in these two cities. It would also give Moscow its most important single territorial gain inside Ukraine since it took Avdiivka, not far from Pokrovsk, in early 2024. That is key for Moscow to show the West it is set to capture all of Donetsk, and that it would be better for Kyiv to voluntarily hand it over as part of a peace deal, a condition Ukraine has repeatedly rejected. Starting in mid-2024, Moscow's advance on Pokrovsk involved a gradual encircling of the city instead of a full frontal assault. Its military deployed small units and drones to disrupt Ukrainian military logistics before sending in larger reinforcements. Kyiv has said Russian forces suffered huge losses in the offensive. Moscow says it is the much smaller Ukraine that risks running out of men, and that its own slower tactics were designed to minimise casualties. Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region last year, which Moscow fought back, slowed the Russian attack on Pokrovsk too. Reuters was able to verify the location in the Russian defence ministry video as Pokrovsk, though not the date it was filmed. Dismissing Moscow's claim of victory, the Ukrainian military said it was holding the city's north and launching attacks in the south. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports from either side due to reporting restrictions in the war zone. Russia's report also came ahead of a planned meeting between Putin and US negotiators in Moscow, coinciding with a build-up to the talks on ending the war.

Major rescue and recovery efforts are underway across Southeast Asia after a series of severe storms battered the region displacing millions and killing more than 1,100 people.

Nuwara Eliya

Severe storms batter Southeast Asia, displacing millions

Honduras’ presidential race is too close to call, with Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla nearly tied at just under 40% each as technical glitches delay official results.

Tegucigalpa

Asfura, Nasralla in tight battle for Honduras presidency

Airbus must inspect hundreds of its A320 jets for potential quality flaws in the plane's body as a total of 628 aircraft contain panels that may be too thick or too thin due to a manufacturing issue at a supplier.

Blagnac

Airbus to inspect hundreds of A320s for defective panels

U.S. President Trump warns against actions that could ‘interfere with Syria’s evolution’ amid new Israeli incursions and strikes.

Damascus

Syria demands Israel withdraw amid escalating cross-border incursions

The White House confirmed it authorized a second airstrike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September, but denied it ordered everyone on board be killed, which would be considered a war crime.

Washington

U.S. authorization of second strike of Venezuelan ship questioned

Monday is World AIDS Day. It has been recognized globally since 1988, but this year, the U.S. government is not commemorating it for the first time.

U.S. not recognizing World AIDS Day this year

Operation "Swamp Sweep," a monthslong immigration crackdown centered in New Orleans, is set to begin Monday. CBS News national reporter Kati Weis has the details.

New Orleans

Immigration enforcement operation set to begin in New Orleans

Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was in a New York City courtroom on Monday for a pre-trial hearing focused on what evidence the jury will see. CBS News' Anna Schecter has the details.

New York

Luigi Mangione's lawyers seek to toss evidence in state murder case

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday that Andrew Wolfe, the second National Guardsman shot in Washington, D.C., last week, has woken up from an induced coma.

National Guardsman injured in shooting has woken up from coma

Lawmakers are questioning the massive mobilization in the Caribbean as President Trump announced airlines and pilots should consider "the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety." It comes amid new controversy over the strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats that has some lawmakers raising questions over whether the Pentagon committed a war crime.

Caracas

Pentagon 'may have' committed war crime amid questions over drug boats

Steve Witkoff, one of President Trump's key envoys helping negotiate a peace proposal between Russia and Ukraine, is set to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the Kremlin says. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

Moscow

Trump envoy set to meet with Putin in Moscow, Russia confirms

Russian missiles and drones continue to hit Ukrainian cities even as U.S. negotiators try to broker a deal between the two countries. Some Ukrainians have expressed anger over President Trump's original peace plan put forward last month, saying it does not guarantee their safety.

Kyiv

Ukrainians express anger over Trump peace proposal as strikes continue

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December, is set to appear in court for hearings on evidence for his upcoming trial. CBS News' Katrina Kaufman reports.

Luigi Mangione headed to court on what evidence should be allowed

Thousands rallied outside President Isaac Herzog’s residence in Tel Aviv, urging him to reject a pardon request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces fraud charges. Demonstrators held signs demanding accountability and warned that approval could undermine justice in Israel.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Protests in Tel Aviv after Netanyahu seeks pardon in fraud cases

The Ukrainian delegation met with U.S. officials in Miami on Sunday ahead of scheduled talks between the U.S. and Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, later this week.

Miami

Rubio calls U.S.-Ukraine talks productive but says more work ahead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request in his long-running corruption cases to the Israeli president. Herzog says he will "sincerely consider the request."

Netanyahu asks president to grant him pardon from corruption charges

Two men and two women from the Paris region have been taken into custody in connection with the theft at the Louvre last month, prosecutors said.

Paris

Four more suspects arrested over Louvre jewelery heist

Entire areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.

Colombo

Sri Lanka reels from Cyclone Ditwah as death toll nears 200

Top Trump administration officials are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, pushing to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Florida

Rubio and Witkoff to meet with Ukraine's negotiators in Florida

President Trump intensified his pressure campaign on Venezuela on Saturday. He posted that the airspace around the country is "closed in its entirety." It comes amid growing pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to step down.

Trump declares Venezuela's airspace closed

Negotiators for Ukraine are headed to Florida for further peace talks with Trump administration officials. The visit comes amid new deadly air assaults across Ukraine.

Deadly Russian air assaults hit Ukraine amid peace talks

Approximately 24 million people across the U.S. are under winter storm alerts. Dave Malkoff and Andrew Kozak have the details on this holiday weekend's forecast and the impact.

Chicago

Major storm blasts Midwest, impacting holiday travel

Ukraine’s security services say that domestically made naval drones struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, involving vessels described as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”

Ukraine strikes Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea

From Rome to Berlin, from São Paulo to Istanbul: the demonstration in the Italian capital, led by Global Movement to Gaza, reflects a global protest for Gaza, with thousands of people united in solidarity and justice

Rome

Thunberg joins pro-Palestine march in Rome

US President Donald Trump has said the airspace above Venezuela is to be closed. With a US task force already in the Caribbean, land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers could soon begin.

US military threat fuels fear and uncertainty in Venezuela

More than 150 people have been killed as Cyclone Ditwah has been battering Sri Lanka with torrential rains that triggered flooding and landslides. Authorities declared a state of emergency.

Cyclone Ditwah pounds Sri Lanka with deadly force

Investigators in Hong Kong are gathering evidence at the site of the apartment block fire that killed at least 128 people. At least 150 are missing, and 11 people involved in the renovation of the complex have been arrested.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong apartment fire survivors share how they escaped

United States President Donald Trump has said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the countries escalate. There was no immediate response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media post on Saturday.

Trump says Venezuela airspace to be shut as tensions rise

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque, officially known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, as part of his trip to Turkey.

Istanbul

Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul's iconic Blue Mosque on Turkey trip

The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members will face first-degree murder charges for an attack that prompted President Donald Trump to declare he would freeze migration from "Third World Countries" to the U.S.

Why is Russia trying so hard to capture Ukraine's Pokrovsk?

Breakdown

See The Full Story

Ukraine Invasion