The Ukrainian City Of Pokrovsk Before The Storm
My experience in Pokrovsk during some of the last days before the Russian onslaught begins
Welcome sign reads, "Pokrovsky District," on a highway leading into Pokrovsk city
It’s a strange feeling being in a city that only a few weeks ago was a vibrant commerce and supply hub, but which now you know will be destroyed and smoldering in ashes in a few days. It’s like being on the open sea moments before a hurricane hits. There’s an unnatural calm, an eerie feeling of quiet before the anvil drops. Every day that passes, the Russians get a little closer.
This is how it felt when I was in Pokrovsk this past week. I was there volunteering with and documenting a unique team of Polish aid volunteers who bring equipment and supplies directly to Ukrainian military units along the length of Ukraine’s eastern front.
Pokrovsk has become the latest designated target for Russian conquest as it has played a vital role in communication and logistics for Ukrainian forces and for the broader free Donetsk region of Ukraine. Multiple vital roads intersect at the city and an important rail station make it a desirable conquest for invading Russian forces seeking to punch deeper into Ukraine’s territory and cut Ukrainian supply routes. The region has seen intense fighting over the last several months.
Pokrovsk's Orthodox Christian Sanctuary
Success and loss are not linear in war. At the same time that Ukrainian forces have shamed the Russian Federation by launching their own attack far away into Russia’s Kursk region, exposing the underbelly of Russia’s unpreparedness there, Pokrovsk teeters on the brink of destruction and occupation.
The outmanned and outgunned Ukrainians await the impending Russian assault. Villages and suburbs on the outskirts of Pokrovsk are under constant shelling and drone attacks by Russia as they soften the path of advance towards the city.
Ukrainian authorities called for evacuation of civilians in the area a few days ago. As we drove into Pokrovsk, we passed lines of cars carrying escaping families, suitcases and household items strapped to the tops of their vehicles. Supermarkets and banks are closing their doors as the city braces for impact.
In and around Pokrovsk, I saw 60-year-old Ukrainian army commanders, hardened in mind and body by this war, firm in what they had to do, and dedicated to their units. I also saw young Ukrainian fighters writing inspirational phrases like “Slava Ukraini” on their hand grenades, and ordinary Ukrainian civilians packing up their lives in family cars to escape the impending battle.
Red arrows show Russian advances towards the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, Ukraine, in the first days of September. Only a few kilometers separates Russian ground forces from the city. Image/DeepStateMap
But even as civilians are scarce on the streets and makeshift Ukrainian military vehicles zoom around from place to place, there are still thousands of Ukrainians in the city and suburbs who have not been convinced to leave. As in many parts of Ukraine, people who have grown up and spent their lives in cities like Pokrovsk are reluctant to abandon their homes. Some are unsure of where they would go or how they would live. Particularly the elderly seem as if they would rather die where they were born and where generations of their families are buried than leave now after enduring so much hardship during the last 10 years of Russia’s war.
While I was in Pokrovsk, I spoke with my good friend Max, whom I have known for sometime. Like so many, he has been defending Ukraine since the first days of the war back in 2014. He grew up in Pokrovsk, his father is buried there, his family and life are intertwined with the city. Even though Max had moved away, he has dropped everything and now returned in this most perilous time to defend his city for as long as he can.
Some of our team with Traczer Foundation on the outskirts of the city after dropping supplies with a Ukrainian unit.
He knows the stakes; he knows what they are facing; he is intimately aware of what will happen to him if he is captured as someone who has fought so long for Ukraine.
Max was there 10 years ago at the battle of Ilovaisk where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed and captured as they attempted to withdraw from the Ukrainian city after being surrounded by the regular Russian Army and Russian proxy forces. Russian forces opened fire on the Ukrainian convoy with antitank weapons and machine guns to devastating effect. “They were shooting us like target practice, like cowboys at a ranch in Texas.”
He was severely wounded in multiple places and fell into Russian hands. It was a near miracle that he survived. In his serious condition, he was swapped back to the Ukrainians and received critical treatment for his injuries. The sober anniversary of the Ilovaisk attack was just a few days ago on August 29.
Max and me earlier on in the full scale invasion
I told Max that I hope to see him again soon in the next few months, and with a tinge of humor he said, “Yes, it won’t be in Pokrovsk, the city will be destroyed, but if I am still alive I would like to do this.”
Even as the city of Pokrovsk looks grimly at the reality of a desperate fight and Russian occupation in the immediate days to come, one thing is true, the people of Ukraine’s east are strong and resilient.
The story of Pokrovsk and its people is not yet over, but the days ahead will likely be some of the worst since the Italian and German occupation of the city during World War II.
