Ukrainians raise the flag in Pokrovsk to show the BBC that fighting continues in the city claimed by Russia

Pokrovsk has not fallen yet. This despite President Vladimir Putin’s recent claim that Russian forces have taken the city.

There is no doubt that Ukraine has been losing ground in this key eastern city. For Russia, Pokrovsk is another step towards its goal of taking control of the entire Donbas. But Ukraine needs to show that it is still capable of resisting.

At a Ukrainian command post, far behind the front line, orders are transmitted over the radio in rapid succession. Soldiers watch dozens of live drone feeds. They are coordinating attacks against Russian positions inside the city.

The commander of the Skala Assault Regiment, Yuri, is eager to show us that Ukraine still controls the north of the city, to prove that the Kremlin’s claim that it has taken Pokrovsk is a lie.

Over the radio, they ask two of their soldiers to leave the cover of a building to display a Ukrainian flag. They move quickly to avoid being seen. The drone feed shows the moment they briefly wave their yellow and blue flag, before quickly taking cover again.

Yuri tells me: “Now you have seen it with your own eyes.”

“I think everyone should know that we’re not just going to give up our territory,” he says. “If we don’t prove it, everyone will lose faith and stop helping Ukraine.”

The battle for Pokrovsk, once a key logistics center for the Ukrainian military, has raged for almost 18 months. The city is already in ruins.

The question now is how much longer Ukraine can hold out.

Those following Russian advances suggest that Ukrainian forces barely have control over the city.

Russian forces have been advancing slowly from the south. Ukraine is losing ground, but says it still controls the north, all the way to the railway line that divides the city.

Sasha, a 25-year-old battalion commander, shows me a map. On top he has placed green plastic soldiers to represent the place where Ukrainian troops still defend. The brown plastic soldiers show where their enemy has advanced.

The Russians have been using small teams of two to four soldiers to sneak past Ukrainian positions, sometimes dressed as civilians.

“It’s a good tactic to get behind enemy lines to gain a foothold,” says Sasha. But he adds: “The enemy that reaches our rear is quickly identified; 15 to 20 minutes pass between detection and destruction.”

Russia has suffered heavy casualties, but still has more troops. A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign Rabbit shows me passports and documents recovered from their dead. I asked him if he thinks many Russians have been killed.

“It’s not enough,” he replies.

Rabbit described the situation as “tough, but under control.” He shows me a Russian machine gun captured by one of his comrades who spent 70 straight days fighting in Pokrovsk. “All he wanted were cigarettes and ammunition,” Rabbit says.

The fighting is clearly taking its toll on the Ukrainian forces, but there are no signs that they will surrender. Rabbit also disagrees with any suggestion that Ukraine should give up more territory in exchange for peace.

He says too much blood has already been shed: “We are part of this land. If we give it away, Russia will want more.”

Another soldier, whose call sign is “Ghost,” fighting in another unit in Pokrovsk, describes the situation as “tense, but not critical.” He dismisses reports of his capture as “Russian propaganda”, saying that reports that “Pokrovsk is surrounded are false information”, but adds that “everyone is exhausted, both Russia and Ukraine”.

For Ukraine, holding ground is also proving costly. The Skala Regiment shares recent videos taken by its troops on the front lines, often having to take shelter in buildings from Russian drones. The buzzing sound of an approaching drone is often accompanied by intense automatic fire as they attempt to shoot it down.

“Khotabych”, who recently spent a month fighting in the city, says it is scary when drones detect you: “There are many of them and they fly 24 hours a day.”

The Russians have more drones with thermal imaging cameras that can see at night. Khotabych said he and his men always expect “good weather,” meaning fog, rain and gray skies. In other words, anything that makes flying difficult.

In Pokrovsk, Ukrainian soldiers are focused on fighting, not peace talks. Most say they want to avoid “political issues.”

But a volunteer from Latvia, the deputy commander of the Skala regiment, is more willing to give his opinion. He says that Latvians “understand that if Ukraine loses the war, our country will be next.”

His call sign is “Godfather” and he has a tough message for Europe and the United States. He describes President Donald Trump as a “charismatic, strong leader” but says that if Trump’s peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, “supports Putin, that makes America and Trump look weak.”

Regarding Europe, he affirms that “there is a lot of talk, there is a lot of bureaucracy and not enough is done.”

The message from the troops we spoke to is that the situation in Pokrovsk is not so bleak. But Ukraine needs proof of its resolve at this critical moment.

Additional reporting by Mariana Matveichuk and Kyla Herrmannsen.