A city with a pre-war population of 60,000, Pokrovsk is located west of Avdiivka which fell to Russian forces in February 2024 and is a critical hub in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.

After Russian forces first approached the outskirts of Pokrovsk in fall, this proud coal-mining city in Donetsk Oblast became the rock upon which the Russian army dashed itself against. After months of fighting and making advances from both east and west,