This was reported on Espreso TV by Ukrainian military observer Vasyl Pekhno."In general, every incident on the front line triggers a chain reaction that worsens the overall situation. The situation in the Pokrovsk direction is clearly deteriorating. It’s obvious that driving the occupiers out now is extremely difficult. I won’t even attempt to speculate on how this could be achieved — I believe the command fully understands the challenges. Another issue is that the General Staff only responded after media reports and confirmed that there are about 200 occupiers in Pokrovsk. It seems that this information became public only under pressure," the military observer added.According to him, 200 people is a huge number in the current reality. There are fighters on both sides, but such a force on the front line is a luxury even the Russians find hard to imagine. For 200 soldiers to reach a location, it means that while they were moving over 10–15 km, they were not struck by drones."How this happened — why they were not destroyed — is a separate question. Two- or six-man groups are the norm for attacks, so 200 men implies about 100 such groups moved through unnoticed or found a weak spot and infiltrated. In today's conditions, this is a very large number of infantry who could have broken through. I recently heard this: ‘Give our mechanized brigade commander 25 well-trained assault infantry, and he could start implementing plans to surround Luhansk.’ That helps put 200 people into perspective. This is a significant force the Russians have gained in Pokrovsk, and something must be done about it. But I repeat: I don't know what our command can do about it," Pekhno concluded.As of Sunday, October 26, 2025, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that a contingent of Russian forces remains within the eastern city limits of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region.