VLADIMIR Putin has claimed his troops have captured the key fortress city of Pokrovsk from Ukraine ahead of crunch peace negotiations.
Russian fighters were pictured brandishing a flag in the eastern Ukrainian city despite Kyiv dismissing the claims that the frontline region has fallen.
Ukrainian Armed Forces’ officials admitted on Monday the situation on the ground is “difficult” but said troops “continue to hold back the enemy’s offensive”.
The fierce battle over Pokrovsk has been ongoing for more than 18 months.
Putin’s army has ramped up pressure to seize the city in recent weeks to clinch a “symbolic” victory before the winter.
The tyrant has reportedly thrown around 200,000 troops into his stalling meatgrinder to take over the key warzone.
His relentless thirst for territory has come at a huge cost however, with a valiant Ukrainian army taking out at least 135,000 Russian soldiers in battle, intelligence suggests.
Russia announced they had taken over Pokrovsk on Monday following on from Putin’s visit to the frontline a day earlier.
General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, told his boss that Russian troops had captured the city during the day.
It remains unclear why the Kremlin withheld the breakthrough information for 24 hours before announcing it to the public.
Ukrainian officials claim it is because the noise around Pokrovsk is simply made up of “loud statements” being peddled by a desperate Moscow.
They claim it is the latest Kremlin ploy to try and demand more land in a peace deal which is being brokered by the US.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, warned Russia will make “many attempts to apply pressure on the front line over the next weeks”.
It comes as high-level peace talks between US, Ukrainian and Russian officials are all set to continue this week.
Over in Florida, Kyiv and Washington’s delegations have met up to discuss the terms over which could see the gruelling war end.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is also expected to meet Putin Moscow for further talks in the coming days.
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