President Vladimir Putin hailed what his commanders told him was the full Russian capture of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine as an important victory after a prolonged campaign, saying it would help Moscow fulfil its wider war aims. Russia, which uses the Soviet-era name of Krasnoarmeysk to refer to the city, has faced fierce Ukrainian resistance in its battle since mid-2024 to capture Pokrovsk, once a strategic logistics hub for the Ukrainian army. The city’s fall, if confirmed, gives Mo