Russians attempting to gain foothold at Donetsk–Dnipropetrovsk administrative border – Ukrainian military

21.07.2025 21:28

Ukrinform

Russian forces are trying to gain a foothold in every settlement along the administrative border of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions at the cost of heavy personnel losses, aiming to present a supposed “triumph” to Russian propagandists.

This was stated on television by Major Viktor Trehubov, Spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group of Troops, according to Ukrinform.

According to him, over the past three weeks, the most active combat actions have taken place in the Pokrovsk, Lyman, and Novopavlivka sectors. In the Lyman sector, the number of Russian assaults remains stable, with their current tactics unchanged over the past six months.

“In the Pokrovsk and Novopavlivka sectors, there’s a real escalation. This is part of the summer campaign, which the Russians have concentrated their main efforts on lately. In the Pokrovsk sector they are attempting to advance between Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka,” said Trehubov.

He noted that currently, Russian forces are losing a significant amount of manpower, especially infantry, in an attempt to capture as much territory as possible east of Pokrovsk and south of Kosynivka, trying to hold on to any settlements in that area.

“It costs them a lot of personnel,” Trehubov added.

In the Novopavlivka sector, he said, Russia is trying to hold settlements on the administrative border between Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

“The idea is to demonstrate some form of actual presence in Dnipropetrovsk region, or at least at the administrative border, so their statements over the past month have some factual basis. Something they can show daily — not just faked or staged footage with a flag and falsified location, but something they can bring Russian journalists to and showcase as a major victory. That’s where they’re sending a large amount of personnel,” the Spokesperson explained.

“In the Pokrovsk sector, the actions are somewhat more strategic, aimed at creating a threat to Kostiantynivka and the Pokrovsk–Myrnohrad urban agglomeration,” Trehubov noted.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, the AFU General Staff denied Russian claims of capturing Pokrovsk — the town remains under control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.