Key Points and Summary – Russia is pushing hard on two fronts, driving toward Pokrovsk in Donetsk while probing thin Ukrainian lines in the south, especially in Zaporizhzhia.
-Moscow has logged some local gains and village captures, but the cost is enormous. Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces report hundreds of Russian troops killed in a single day, dozens of vehicles destroyed, and Shahed drones shot down in waves.
Su-27 Flanker Fighter. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Around Pokrovsk, Kyiv’s forces—backed by special operations units and military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov—are inflicting severe losses as they fight block by block. The battle is becoming a race between Russian manpower and Ukrainian exhaustion.
Putin’s Army Suffering Body Blows as Ukraine Inflicts Serious Casualties
As battles are reported at different points along the 800-mile frontline in Ukraine, Moscow continues to try to take over the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Province.
Russian units are also pressing in the south. All the while, Ukrainian units are landing devastating blows on Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Moscow is desperate to achieve a major breakthrough before the winter months set in. The chief focus is on the siege of Pokrovsk, but Putin’s troops are also intensifying their attacks along the southern front.
Russia’s strategy at present is to press as hard as possible at points on the Ukrainian lines where Kyiv’s forces are thin on the ground. Russian units are trying to capitalize on weaknesses in Kyiv’s southern defensive positions, hoping to draw units from other parts of the front and create additional weak points.
Where Russia is Making Gains
Through the simultaneous intensification of engagements in the east and the south, Moscow hopes to stress the Ukrainian military to the point of withdrawal in one or both regions.
During the past week, Russian forces have achieved what has been characterized as “rapid progress” in the Zaporizhzhia region. A Ukrainian military blogger reported the Russians have “advanced on the right flank towards Zaporizhzhia, bypassing the entire southern defense line through the Dnipropetrovsk region.”
Msta-S Russian Army. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In its most recent war assessment, Ukraine’s military reported “geolocated footage published on 15 November shows Russian forces have been raising flags in Yablukove (northeast of Hulyaipole), indicating that Russian forces likely seized the settlement.”
On Sunday, Russian forces claimed they captured two more villages in southern Ukraine, where its units are slowly gaining ground against outnumbered Ukrainian forces. On its Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed its troops had taken Rivnopillia and Mala Tokmachka in Zaporizhzhia.
At present, the Zaporizhzia frontline is much less active than in the Donbas, where most of the fighting occurs. But in both areas, Russian forces are better equipped and have greater numbers than the Ukrainians.
Ukraine Inflicts Body Blows
Nevertheless, Ukraine’s Southern Army has unleashed a fierce counteroffensive, and in the process, it delivered catastrophic losses to the Russians in a single 24-hour period of hostilities.
“Over the past day, the Southern Defense Forces obliterated more than 300 occupiers and over 50 units of enemy military equipment, including striking the Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile system,” according to the Ukrainian Military’s Telegram channel.
In addition, the Ukrainian military reports that “during a night-time drone attack, the Southern Defense Forces destroyed 26 Shahed-136 UAVs. Southern Ukraine defenders detected and wiped out 9 enemy UAV operator teams.”
Amid those Ukrainian successes in the south, intense combat continues in and around Pokrovsk. Little remains of the city after enduring almost a year of combat, but the location remains a crucial logistical hub for Ukraine’s army in the east.
Pokrovsk has seen 21 months of unrelenting Russian assaults, and by some reports it is on the precipice of falling to Russia’s military. The head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, was dispatched with a contingent of special forces bearing orders to roll back Russia’s slow but steady encroachment in the city.
Ukraine continues to inflict increasing costs on the Russians, and Kyiv’s military leadership insists the battle is nowhere near over. Reports include ongoing offensive operations in the Ocheretyne direction (which encompasses the Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and Dobropillia sectors).
Putin on Direct Line Back in 2019. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
“Since the start of this week, our troops have inflicted severe losses on Russian forces: 755 occupiers neutralized; 1 tank, 11 armored vehicles, 3 artillery systems, 2 vehicles, 1 piece of special equipment, and 12 motorcycles/ATVs destroyed or significantly damaged,” the Ukrainian General Staff stated. “From 21 August 2025 to the present, enemy losses in the Ocheretyne sector have amounted to approximately 19,270 Russian personnel and 1,493 pieces of weaponry and military equipment.
“Ukrainian forces have also destroyed more than 5,770 enemy drones of various types. In total, during the operation – as of 15 November 2025 – 189 km2 have been liberated, and 259.4 square km of the Pokrovsk district have been completely cleared of enemy sabotage groups.”
Clearly, the battle on these two fronts comes down to which will happen first: Either the Russians will run out of manpower to send into what has become a frontline slaughterhouse, or the Ukrainians will have to pull out due to pure exhaustion.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of the Asia Research Centre at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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