Trench Art

Trench Art

Why In The Hell Are Ukrainian Assault Troops Counterattacking In Pokrovsk?

There aren't enough Ukrainian reserves for a major counteroffensive.

Nov 24, 2025
∙ Paid
The 425th Assault Regiment in training. 425th Assault Regiment photo

The ruins of Pokrovsk, a mining town with a pre-war population of 60,000 that has been the locus of the bloodiest fighting in eastern Ukraine for nearly a year, are now almost totally under Russian control.

Emphasis on almost. Against the odds, Ukrainian forces are still active in Pokrovsk. Especially one unit: the 425th Assault Regiment, which took up positions along the town’s northern outskirts in late October in order to cover the retreat of the last few survivors of the main Ukrainian garrison from the 68th Jaeger Brigade and the 155th Mechanized Brigade.

On at least half a dozen confirmed occasions since then, the elite assault regiment has counterattacked near or past the east-west railway that cuts through the center of Pokrovsk. The question is—why?

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