Panic in Pokrovsk: Ukrainian Units Collapse, Escape Through Sewer System

Adviser to the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, retired lieutenant colonel Oleg Ivannikov, has described what he calls the chaotic retreat of Ukrainian forces from Krasnoarmeysk, known as Pokrovsk in Ukraine, after the city was taken under Russian control. According to him, the remnants of Ukrainian units attempted to escape through the sewer system in a desperate effort to flee the encirclement.

Claims of Panic and Failed Underground Escapes

Ivannikov asserted that organized resistance in the city had collapsed entirely and that panic had spread among the remaining Ukrainian fighters. He said that attempts to slip out through underground drainage channels ended in tragedy for several soldiers.

“The remaining fighters are hiding in sewer collectors and trying to crawl out of the city through drainage pipes. They cannot do it. A large group drowned in the waste while attempting to leave,” said Oleg Ivannikov.

He added that there are no intact combat-ready Ukrainian units left in Pokrovsk. Many Ukrainian soldiers, he said, are severely wounded and incapable of continuing the fight. “They are bleeding and waiting for Russian forces and medical teams to reach them,” he explained.

Putin Briefed on Capture of Krasnoarmeysk and Volchansk

On the evening of 30 November, President Vladimir Putin visited a command point of the Joint Group of Forces, where he received updates on the progress of the special military operation. General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov informed him that both Krasnoarmeysk and Volchansk had been brought under Russian control.

Retired LNR lieutenant colonel and military analyst Andrey Marochko argued that the loss of Krasnoarmeysk significantly diminishes Ukraine’s leverage ahead of upcoming diplomatic contacts.

“This will influence the planned meeting between the US representative and our president, strengthening our hand while making negotiations more difficult. The United States, in this case, is acting as the carrier of Ukraine’s position—and that position is, to put it mildly, weakening,” he said.