“They sent such forces to Pokrovsk that Ukraine cannot allocate that many to a single direction. One to eight people. Imagine how many ‘russian’ forces are there. Yet, they have not achieved the planned results. They show maps supposedly capturing Pokrovsk, but that’s just a lie”, - President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said during a meeting with journalists, reports RBC-Ukraine.
According to the head of state, russia concentrated enormous forces in this direction — so large that Ukraine physically cannot oppose a proportionate number of troops. Despite this, the enemy has not reached its planned objectives.
He said the russians are trying to assure the US that Pokrovsk is fully captured, but this is not true.
“They are showing them maps already with Pokrovsk captured, telling how they are in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, how they seized 90% of eastern Ukraine. This is just a lie”, - Zelensky said.
The president emphasized that holding Pokrovsk is of strategic importance, as the kremlin seeks to use the city as a political argument to convince the world of Ukraine’s supposedly ‘inevitable’ retreat from the east.
“The fact that we hold Pokrovsk and they constantly revise their campaign plans proves to the world that they are lying and that it is worth continuing to help Ukraine”, - he noted.
Zelensky also reported that during combat operations in the east, Ukrainian forces captured 2,200 russian soldiers in just the first six months of 2025.
“All of the east — Dobropillia, Pokrovsk — brought us 2,200 russian prisoners of war. Imagine how many they lost”, - the president said.