- President of Ukraine says 160 square kilometres liberated in the Pokrovsk and Dobropillia areas.
- Russian losses since the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive – in the Pokrovsk area alone, in these past weeks – are already more than 2,500.
- The counteroffensive checks Russian land grab ahead of future negotiations.
In a visit to the Donetsk region on 18 September 2025, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was briefed on the claimed success of Ukrainian military units stalling the Russian offensive, and even liberating a swathe of territory in the Pokrovsk and Dobropillia areas.
The head of state presented awards to personnel on the frontlines for their achievements in battle. “The fighting is intense,” Zelenskyy said, “but we have inflicted significant losses on the Russians.”
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Not only had Ukrainian military units stalled the Russian offensive in this long-contested locale, but since the start of the operation, Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has liberated 160 square kilometers (sq km) and over 170 sq km have been cleared of Russian forces entirely.
This area of the frontline in North West Donetsk formed a salient between the strategic cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad since the fall of Avdiivka early last year.
According to open source intelligence, Russian forces continued offensive operations in the Pokrovsk direction on 18 September but did not make confirmed advances. Notwithstanding the the Russian force presence around the city, which is reportedly the largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
In this specific area, Zelenskyy stated that Russian losses since the start of this counteroffensive – in the Pokrovsk area alone, in the past few weeks – are already more than 2,500, of which over 1,300 Russians have been killed.
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By GlobalDataThis loss of manpower remains a fundamental problem for the occupying forces. Both Ukraine and the UK claim that Russia has sustained more than one million combat casualties in the war, with London stating Russian military casualties in 2025 was in excess of 260,000 personnel.
In the backdrop of the Russian offensive, after the US-Russia summit in Alaska at the end of August, the Kremlin has dismissed the possibility of an early meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, for which Trump has been pressing, as Russia tries to push the boundary as far as possible before coming to the negotiating table.
