Battles for the Pokrovsk fortress. Timur special forces won a corridor for support

The fighting for the city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk Oblast has entered a decisive phase. Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) deployed some of its special units to operations in Pokrovsk, including the Timur special unit. The situation of Ukrainian forces in this section has been very complicated for at least several weeks.

“After the successful landing operation, special units of the military intelligence of Ukraine (HUR) were able to create a ground corridor through which reinforcement forces could reach the site,” HUR wrote in a statement in the Telegram messenger. The press service of the Ukrainian intelligence also reported heavy fighting taking place in Pokrovsk.

The situation of Ukrainian forces in the Pokrov sector has remained very complicated for at least several weeks: as previously reported by channels monitoring the course of the front line (e.g. Ukrainian DeepState on Telegram), the Russian army is seeking to encircle the Pokrov-Myrnograd agglomeration and cut off the Ukrainian forces defending positions in this area. From the second half of October, most of the city of Pokrovsk became the so-called a gray zone, i.e. an area where direct clashes take place between the forces of both sides; UAVs are also active. The M30 road, which is crucial for Ukrainian logistics, connecting both cities with Pavlohrad, located in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, came under the fire control of Russian forces, and its safe use became impossible.

Last Friday (October 31), information about the landing of a Ukrainian special unit in Pokrovsk appeared on Ukrainian social media – it was confirmed by a video showing the landing of a UH-60 helicopter (the HUR aviation component is to have two such machines) and the landing of soldiers. As stated in a later HUR statement, they were soldiers from a unit called Timur.

Little is known about this branch of Ukrainian military intelligence: its task is to carry out sabotage, land and sea operations deep within the enemy group. It consists of several smaller subunits, performing both assault, sabotage and intelligence functions, also using drones. Since its establishment in 2022, the unit has carried out many special operations, including: in occupied Crimea and the Black Sea (including taking control of Snake Island and drilling platforms, the so-called Boyko towers). According to the Ukrainian Kyiv Post portal, the Timur unit also carried out activities outside Ukraine, including: in 2024 in Sudan, where its soldiers conducted training and took part in the operations of local insurgent forces fighting, among others, with the Russian mercenary Wagner Group. The name of the unit comes from the name of its commander.

The area of ​​operation of HUR forces in Pokrovsk is to be the crossroads in the western part of the city. Control of this place is crucial to the continued defense of Pokrovsk. The deployment of units of Ukrainian military intelligence to operations in this section was probably forced by two factors:

• lack of available reserves that could be directed to such a task,
• the nature of the ongoing fighting.

Available information and video materials published by the Ukrainian side show that the clashes are currently taking place primarily over control of buildings in the southern part of Pokrovsk. HUR units were to be sent to this section in order to clear the buildings of Russian forces, which is a task for which these types of units, specialized in close quarter combat (CQB – Close Quater Battle), are very well suited. The use of helicopters as a means of transferring forces is also characteristic – this may confirm that the land connection of Pokrovsk with the rest of Ukraine was cut off for some time or too dangerous to use due to the activity of Russian drones and artillery. The Timur unit carried out similar actions earlier, during the battles for Bakhmut (at the turn of 2022 and 2023) and Avdiivka (2023/24).

This does not change the fact that the tactical situation on this sector of the front is extremely difficult for the Ukrainian side.

Special forces were transferred to Pokrovsk to cover the retreat. Another possibility is the task of taking something/someone important out of the city; any other operation would be a waste of potential – said Marcin Ogdowski, a journalist of “Polska Zbrojna”, in a commentary for PAP. – This has already happened to the Ukrainians in the past, so in the end, I cannot rule out the option of a desperate attempt to maintain the defense lines with the help of elite formations – he added.

The Ukrainian command also sent other units to operate on this section of the front, including: 7th Rapid Reaction Corps of the Airborne Forces of Ukraine and the 1st Azov Corps. The latter formation operates near Dobropilla north of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. On Tuesday, the command point of the 1st Corps was visited by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The importance of defense in the Pokrov sector is important from the point of view of the entire front line. – Once the Russians have captured the ruins of Pokrovsk, they may launch an attack in various directions: from Zaporozhye to Kharkov, but the most likely is that they will try to continue the attack on Dobropilla and Konstantinivka – writes Michał Bruszewski, journalist and analyst at Defence24.pl, in his analysis. Capturing Konstantinivka, which is already under attack (fights are taking place on the outskirts of the city), would open the way for the Russian army to attack Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, and thus to seize the part of Donbas that is still controlled by Ukraine.

Dariusz Materniak (PAP)

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