Several helicopters are reported to be involved in the operation.
Budanov is on site and is in charge personally, media interlocutors noted.
During the day, Budanov was not at a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. At the same time, other heads of intelligence services were present there – the head of the SBU Vasily Malyuk and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Oleg Ivashchenko.
Zelensky stated that the Russian occupiers are trying to capture Pokrovsk, because they failed in other directions.
Context
On October 22, the Russian “Layout” wrote that the command of the Russian army had already promised the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin the capture of Kupyansk and Pokrovsk, therefore, in order to improve the positions of the occupying forces, Moscow is delaying the peace negotiation process.
On October 26, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov reported to Putin about the alleged encirclement of Ukrainian troops in the area of Kupyansk and Pokrovsk. Zelensky, and subsequently the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Igor Klimenko, denied this information.
On October 29, Putin repeated Gerasimov’s words that Ukrainian defense forces were in a large-scale encirclement in Kupyansk and Pokrovsk. He invited the media to verify this by coming to the front. The Joint Forces Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces noted that with these statements Putin exposes himself to ridicule.
On October 30, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, denied Russian information about the alleged “blocking” of the Ukrainian military in Pokrovsk and Kupyansk.
The Russian Ministry of Defense informed on October 30 that Putin ordered the unhindered passage of foreign journalists if they contact the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to visit the supposed “areas of blocking of Ukrainian troops” in Mirnograd (Dimitrov), Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), and also in Kupyansk. The Russian command is allegedly even ready, if necessary, to stop hostilities “for five to six hours.” The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on the media not to trust such proposals from Putin.
On October 31, the media reported a counterattack by the Main Intelligence Directorate in Pokrovsk in order to restore key logistics routes.
