VIDEO Russian forces storm “Mad Max” style in Pokrovsk. Images of the scene taken from the famous post-apocalyptic film

Moscow announced that its forces had advanced deeper into the eastern Ukrainian cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk on Tuesday, with video footage showing Russian soldiers entering Pokrovsk on motorbikes or being transported, including on the roofs of cars and in the back of destroyed vans, the Reuters news agency writes.

Russia says the capture of Pokrovsk, dubbed the “gateway to Donetsk” by the Moscow press, would give it a platform to advance north to the two major cities in the Donetsk region remaining under the control of Kiev forces – Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russia has been threatening to occupy Pokrovsk for more than a year, with its forces using a “pincer” move to try to encircle it and threaten Ukrainian troop supply lines, instead of resorting to the classic and extremely bloody frontal assaults it used to capture the city of Bahmut in 2023.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the situation around Pokrovsk as difficult, and the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Sîrskîi, admitted that his army's position in parts of the southeastern Zaporozhye region had “significantly worsened”.

Russians enter Pokrovsk on a fog-covered road, video footage shows

Russian war bloggers released footage on Tuesday of what they said was Russian army forces entering Pokrovsk on a fog-shrouded road in what some users on the messaging app Telegram described as scenes from the 1979 action film Mad Max, set in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Video footage shows Russian forces on motorcycles and in an odd combination of cars and other vehicles. Many vehicles, without doors or windows, appear in the footage as they drive down a road strewn with debris, under the gaze of soldiers. Some Russian soldiers were on the roof of a damaged vehicle. A drone could be seen near the road.

Reuters says it was able to confirm that the location where the images were taken is the city of Pokrovsk, based on the matching road configuration, signs, utility tower and trees seen in the video.

In a message posted on Telegram, Zelenskiy, who was visiting Ukrainian-controlled areas in the southern Kherson region, described the situation in Pokrovsk as “difficult, especially as weather conditions favor attacks. But we continue to destroy the occupiers.”

Zelensky also stated that Moscow is also stepping up its attacks in the southeastern region of Zaporozhye.

The Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Sîrskîi claimed that Russian troops were exploiting the foggy conditions to infiltrate Ukrainian defensive positions in Zaporozhye.

“The situation worsened significantly in the direction of Oleksandrivka and Huliaipole, where, using the numerical superiority in terms of soldiers and equipment, the enemy advanced after fierce fighting and captured three settlements,” wrote Sîrskîi, also in a message published on Telegram.

Ukrainian troops, he said, are fighting “exhausting battles” for two villages northeast of the city of Huliaipole.

The Ukrainian military said about 300 Russian soldiers were now in Pokrovsk and that Moscow had stepped up efforts to bring in more troops in recent days. Kiev's military added that Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian groups inside the city.

Sîrskîi stated, for the American publication The New York Post, that Russia has concentrated about 150,000 soldiers in the offensive on Pokrovsk.

Urban battles

As a sign of the intensity of the urban fighting, Moscow cited the fact that its forces occupied 256 buildings. His troops were advancing to the northwest and east of Pokrovsk and around the railway station.

Moscow and Kiev have given different accounts of the battle for Pokrovsk: Russia has claimed for days that the city is encircled, while Kiev denies that Moscow controls the city and said on Monday it could still supply the neighboring city of Mirnohrad.

Open source battle maps of both sides show that Russian troops are executing a pincer movement around the city and are close to blocking it, although Kiev is counterattacking around the town of Dobropillia.

Moscow says its forces have taken full control of the eastern part of the city of Kupiansk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. A Russian commander, who gave his callsign “Hunter”, said his troops had taken control of an oil depot on the eastern edge of the city.

In a video statement issued by the Moscow Defense Ministry, the commander said his forces had also taken control of several train stations south of Kupiansk.

Russia also claimed that its troops had taken control of the settlement of Novouspenivske in the Zaporizhia region.

The Ukrainian army, meanwhile, announced it had withdrawn from some villages, including Novouspenivske, due to attacks involving more than 400 artillery bombardments per day, according to a spokesman, quoted by the RBC-Ukraine news agency.

Reuters notes that it could not independently verify the battlefield information provided by the two sides involved in the war.

The Russian military says it currently controls more than 19 percent of Ukraine's territory, or about 116,000 square km (44,800 sq mi). Ukrainian maps tracking changes on the frontline show Moscow controls 19.1 percent of Ukrainian territory, up from 18 percent reported nearly three years ago.

Russians entering Pokrovsk under the cover of thick fog. pic.twitter.com/ijOb5dcyb2

— ayden (@squatsons) November 10, 2025