People keep asking me: why are we still fighting for Pokrovsk?
Last November I called it the “farmhouse at Waterloo,” and I wasn’t wrong. Everything has been converging toward this point.
For Ukraine, the logic of this war has never changed: make Russia pay dearly for every metre. Force them to bleed for ground, and in Pokrovsk, that strategy is paying dividends.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Pokrovsk was a town of 80,000, a logistics hub and administrative centre in western Donetsk.
Now it’s a shattered shell. What remains is not a city, but a position: roads, supply routes, and terrain that shape the wider fight.
So the real question isn’t why Ukraine is defending Pokrovsk. It’s why Russia is throwing everything it has at taking it.
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The answer lies in optics and desperation. Putin needs a trophy. Russian “victories” have been rare, limited and bought in blood. Pokrovsk offers him something to point at on state TV, a talking point, a symbol, a narrative of progress before winter mud and frost lock the front in place.
Look at the scale. Ukrainian commanders estimate around 110,000 Russian troops concentrated toward Pokrovsk. Russian daily losses here have reached 700–800 at peak assaults. Ukraine faces manpower strain too, with forces outnumbered roughly eight to one in this direction. And yet Russia still cannot break through quickly, cannot outmanoeuvre Ukrainian engineers and artillery, cannot turn overwhelming numbers into rapid advance.
This is not a three-day “special operation.” It’s industrial-era attrition. Putin isn’t winning ground, he’s spending lives.
Politically, he’s cornered. His attempt to charm Donald Trump into pressuring Kyiv to hand over territory failed. Sanctions continue to squeeze Moscow’s economy. Capital is fleeing. His fourth-year war has delivered mass graves, not triumph.
Pokrovsk isn’t about territory; it’s about illusion. Putin needs momentum, even if it’s fake.
And on the ground? I saw the preparations myself. Layered defences: tank ditches, dragon’s teeth, deep mine belts, razor wire stretching to the horizon. Behind them, drones, artillery, armour, infantry. If Russia gets in, it will inherit rubble and flat open ground, a perfect killing field for defenders. That’s not a launchpad; it’s a trap.
If Ukraine holds, Putin heads into winter empty-handed. If he takes it, he gains only another graveyard and shattered morale.
We fight for survival. Russia fights for optics. That difference matters.
So yes, we are still fighting for Pokrovsk. Because in a war like this, you don’t trade land for convenience. You trade the enemy’s ambition for their lifeblood.
Putin is running out of men, time, and stories.
And Pokrovsk won’t save him.
© Shaun Pinner
Shaun Pinner BIO: Author, Public Speaker, and Recipient of Ukraine’s “Order of Courage” for selfless acts in the defence of Ukrainian sovereignty.
A proud husband and father born near Watford, England, I served for nine years in the British Army’s Royal Anglian Regiment, including deployment with the UN in Bosnia during the early ’90s. Trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (S.E.R.E.) as part of the 24 Airmobile Brigade, I continued my military journey by joining the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2018 as the country rebuilt its military following the annexation of Crimea.
Initially serving as a Sniper Instructor with the Ukrainian National Guard in Mariupol, I transferred to the Ukrainian Marines in 2020—becoming the first foreigner to command a frontline position as a Ukrainian soldier. I passed all aspects of Ukrainian parachute training and earned the prestigious Blue Beret with the Air Assault Company of the 1st Battalion, Ukrainian Marines. On my fourth deployment and second as a Section Commander, I was stationed at a forward listening post when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. I led a fighting withdrawal back to Mariupol over several days—a story recounted in my book Live. Fight. Survive.
The book details my life before Ukraine, my service on the frontlines, and the intense battle for Mariupol. Most powerfully, it recounts my capture, torture, and death sentence at the hands of Russian proxy forces (the so-called DPR), and my eventual release in a dramatic prisoner exchange brokered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Roman Abramovich, and the Ukrainian government.
Since my release, I’ve been awarded one of Ukraine’s highest honours by President Volodymyr Zelensky. I now brief NATO forces and S.E.R.E. schools globally, speak regularly in the media on geopolitical developments involving Ukraine, and recently won a landmark legal case holding Russia accountable for my treatment in captivity. I continue to reside in Ukraine, supporting my Ukrainian wife in humanitarian efforts and standing firmly in support of the country’s future
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