Wait. Syrskyi did what? He tactically withdrew the Ukrainian army from the city of Pokrovsk in October 2025. Then reinforced, they fought their way back in.
Yep. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But apparently that is what happened. And the rest of the world is only recently finding out about it. The Russians announced to the whole world that they had captured Pokrovsk. Then suddenly they found out that they hadn’t. The Russians will have to wait a lot lot longer to call Pokrovsk by its former Soviet era name … Krasnoarmeysk(“Red Army” town). Syrskyi and the Ukrainian army are not not having any of that jib. It is Pokrovsk.
All things considered this surreptitious Ukrainian maneuver also goes to show that there’s so much more going on in this war that remains outside the ken of reportage, analysis and even the situational maps. This is not to denigrate or gainsay the yeoman’s work put in by those who strive to keep us minutely informed of what is going on at the battle front. But save for General Syrskyi, President Zelenskyy, the theater commanders and most importantly Ukraine’s increasingly very well-trained, disciplined army, no one had any idea that this gutsy ballsy maneuver had taken place. At Pokrovsk … of all places.
Along the same lines of Op Sec(Operational Security) this week’s report by ISW of Ukraine crossing the international border into a forested area northeast of Mukhin in Belgorod oblast, Russia. What is in that area? The Ukrainian military has not yet said why the movement was made.
On December 10, 2025, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed that Ukrainian forces had tactically retreated from Pokrovsk earlier in the autumn due to limited capabilities ... that Ukrainian units were not present in Pokrovsk at certain points during the autumn of 2025 but launched a successful counter-offensive starting in November, to secure control of critical areas in the city, regain control of approximately 13 square kilometers of the city, primarily in its northern parts. The counter-offensive has since expanded.
And why did he have to make a ballsy and even totally dicey move like that? Quite Simple actually … always the overarching Ukrainian focus on doing whatever it takes to conserve and save the lives of their soldiers … a tactical repositioning to preserve troops and improve logistics:
Ukrainian troops return to Pokrovsk, retake nearly half the city — Syrskyi
There were no Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk in the fall. However, since November 25, they managed to retake about 13 square kilometers of the city's territory, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said during a meeting with journalists earlier today, news agencies Ukrinform and Interfax-Ukraine reported.
hromadske.ua/...
Ukraine retakes 72 sq km near Pokrovsk, repels Russian push — Syrskyi
Ukrainian defense forces have retaken 16 square kilometers in northern Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast and another 56 square kilometers west of the city near the villages of Hryshyne, Kotlyne and Udachne, Ukraine’s top military commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said Dec. 17.
english.nv.ua/...
More here:
Ukraineregains part of Pokrovsk as 'defense continues,' Syrskyi says
https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-regains-part-of-pokrovsk-syrskyi-says/
So when the still shocking images came of Ukrainian Special Forces landing by Black Hawk helicopters in Russian-held areas of Pokrovsk to set in train the events captured in the caption map above, it was actually Ukrainian forces making their re-entry into Pokrovsk to re-engage the surprised Russians in order to clear, reset defenses and re-configure Ukrainian logistics lines within the city and into nearby Myrnohrad.
It was one heck of a bravura performance. And still largely holding. It also enabled Ukraine to later extract, with minimal loss, their nearly encircled garrison deep in a salient south of Myrnohrad, thereby straightening their defensive front.
DIU Fighters on Black Hawk Managed to Force Open Land Corridor in Pokrovsk
“After a successful airborne operation, additional forces joined the group of special forces who held the designated lines through a broken ground corridor,” the DIU shared.
It is noted that the forces of this special unit continue the operation in the area, which is important for the frontline logistics of Ukrainian troops.
Currently, combat operations are underway to counter attempts by Russian troops to expand their firepower along logistics routes in the DIU’s area of responsibility.
“Other special units of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine are also performing combat missions in this sector. Coordinated cooperation with all components of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine continues,” the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine noted.
https://militarnyi.com/en/news/diu-fighters-on-black-hawk-managed-to-force-open-land-corridor-in-pokrovsk/
Attribution: Ukrainian Intelligence Special Forces Make Helicopter Landing Near Pokrovsk in Operation Led by [Major General] Krylylo Budanov in the morning of Nov. 1, 2025. Photo credit: www.kyivpost.com/...
The book on Pokrovsk is yet to be written but this recent and by all indications successful field adaptation by Syrskyi will be one to be studied for generations. With his troops under immense and relentless Russian pressure, Syrskyi reached far back into the history books of war to pull one on the Russian invaders at Pokrovsk … retreat and then counterattack. The Russian “infils” had largely turned a significant portion of the city into a gray zone and their ambushes and sabotage activities had created a very confusing and unsafe environment in which a coherent defensive line could not be set. With Russian FPVs further complicating matters, Syrskyi made the bold decision to “reset” his lines, restore his unsteady GLOCs in the city and above all preserve the lives of his soldiers.
But what exactly, in military terms, describes Syrskyi’s “October Surprise” at Pokrovsk? It has all the hallmarks of a Feigned Retreat... a military tactic which is a type of feint, whereby a military force pretends to withdraw or to have been routed, in order to lure an enemy into a position of vulnerability. It has precedents going far into ancient antiquity. Sun Tzu(544–496 BCE) warned in his Chinese military treatise The Art of War … "do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight." Thus cautioning against pursuing an enemy that unexpectedly runs away or shows a weaker force, as it may be bait for an ambush.
Sun Tzu’s advice speaks to the fact that the success of this maneuver relies heavily on the element of surprise and psychological disarray within the enemy ranks, allowing the defending force to regain the initiative and exploit the enemy’s overextension in pursuing. During the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army employed this tactic to draw American units into ambushes ... demonstrating the continued effectiveness of the strategy against a larger or technologically superior opponent.
Generally an army is usually at its most vulnerable in retreat. Armies are designed to fight and move forward to occupy territory or to hold ground and defend positions. A feigned retreat is somewhat of a reversal of that. Therefore:
A feigned retreat is one of the more difficult tactics for a military force to undertake, and requires well-disciplined soldiers[thus Syrskyi’s continuing insistence on having trained soldiers instead of a massive horde of mere trigger pullers]. This is because, if the enemy presses into the retreating body, undisciplined troops are likely to lose coherence and the rout will become genuine.
bootcampmilitaryfitnessinstitute.com/...
A feigned retreat has all these potential problems, plus some extra ones. For it to work, the army has to keep its discipline and yet not tell all of its troops that it is planning a feigned retreat (or it risks the crucial intel getting to the enemy). It had to keep itself together during the confusion of war, then get to the point where the feigned retreat turns into a counter attack or whatever the feigned retreat is designed to become. Such a high risk move, difficult to execute, is also potentially catastrophic, especially in a high stakes set up like Pokrovsk.
Perhaps being well aware of the political eye brow raising that such a tactic would elicit in the halls of power at Kyiv ... given the incredibly high stakes involved in the defense of Pokrovsk and the Ukrainian Donetsk “Fortress Belt” in general, Syrskyi is calling his gambler’s roll of the dice a “tactical retreat” … which the army has already performed several times. Syrskyi is not calling his maneuver a “feigned retreat”. He’s being quite cagey about it all, leaving it to students of war and history to make the determination post-hostilities. But whatever technical term one applies to what he did to “reset” the situation at Pokrovsk, it seems to be working for the Ukrainians, even if temporarily.
And with the blessing of his boss, President Zelenskyy, who compared the battle for Pokrovsk to Bakhmut, Syrskyi and his army intend to stay put in Pokrovsk:
"How does Zelensky see the plan to stabilize thesituation in the Pokrovsk region”
This is an unconditional decision of the military, who should be in the Pokrovsky direction, in what number, etc. But you have to understand: they are not retreating there. Returning back, they are shot. I am talking about the Russian army. And they will press. It is necessary for them. Like the situation with Bakhmut. They will put 50-60 thousand people there. You will see it. You will understand these numbers very soon. This is the story. And that's why you can't just say: "you are 100 thousand and we are 100 thousand." We already had one such operation, - explains the head of state.
https://news.online.ua/en/zelensky-revealed-the-nuances-of-stabilizing-the-situation-in-the-pokrovsk-region-883889/
ADAPTIVE INDOMITABLE UKRAINE will do whatever it takes ... even a high stakes roll of the tactical dice, to keep Pokrovsk … Ukraine.
SLAVA UKRAINI ! PEREMOHA(Victory) !!
