Ukraine’s National Guard and General Staff said on Friday evening (15 August) that a counter-attack on the Pokrovsk front in Donetsk region had halted recent Russian gains and restored control over six settlements near Dobropillia.

The First Corps “Azov” of the Ukrainian National Guard reported that, together with adjacent and subordinate units, it had “stopped the enemy’s advance” over the past three days and carried out search-and-strike operations to clear populated areas.

According to the statements, Ukrainian forces retook Hruzke, Rubizhne, Novovodyan(e), Petrivka, Vesele and Zolotyi Kolodiaz, in a sector lying between Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk. Stabilisation measures were said to be continuing on the Dobropillia axis. The General Staff reported Russian losses in the same period of 271 killed, 101 wounded and 13 captured, and listed materiel losses including one tank, two armoured combat vehicles, 37 vehicles and motorcycles, and three guns. Ukraine did not provide imagery to substantiate the figures at the time of publication.

The developments follow a week in which Ukrainian and open-source channels depicted a Russian push that created a narrow salient threatening the road network north-west of Pokrovsk. DeepState, a Ukrainian mapping project that tracks visually confirmed changes, had highlighted a wedge forming towards Dobropillia earlier in the week, prompting warnings about the risk of Russian units cutting lines of communication. Subsequent reporting noted that Ukrainian forces were deploying additional units to blunt the advance.

By Thursday, Ukrainian outlets were describing the Russian push as “blocked”, with clearing operations beginning around Dobropillia. Those accounts, which echoed the National Guard’s message on 15 August, pointed to urban-edge fighting and small-unit actions aimed at dislodging Russian detachments that had entered treelines and field positions during the earlier advance. As with other frontline reports, independent confirmation of precise control of individual villages remained limited.

If sustained, the recapture of Zolotyi Kolodiaz and Vesele would complicate attempts by Russian forces to approach Dobropillia from the north and to widen the salient. Holding ground in the Hruzke–Rubizhne–Petrivka line would also ease pressure on local supply routes used for ammunition, drone logistics and rotations, according to the Ukrainian read-out. However, the situation on the Pokrovsk axis remains fluid, with both sides conducting short-notice assaults and counter-assaults supported by artillery and small drones.

The reported stabilisation around Dobropillia coincided with a high-profile summit in Anchorage, Alaska, where U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met on 15 August to discuss the war. The White House said senior U.S. officials joined an initial “three-on-three” session, while press reports described the meeting as an attempt to broker at least a ceasefire.

Kyiv is not a party to the talks; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged that any outcome respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The anchoring of battlefield narratives to diplomatic timelines has been a repeated feature of the conflict, but there was no immediate indication that the fighting around Pokrovsk abated during the summit.

DeepState’s mapping earlier in the week had shown Russian gains towards Kucheriv Yar and Zolotyi Kolodiaz before the Ukrainian pushback. Analysts attributed the advance to sustained infantry pressure supported by artillery rather than large-scale manoeuvre, a pattern seen elsewhere along the Donetsk front.

Friday’s Ukrainian statements suggest the response likewise relied on small, quick-moving formations, with the National Guard crediting “co-ordinated actions” between units. The figures released by Kyiv exceed a standard Russian battalion’s personnel strength; Russia has not commented on the specific losses.

Battle damage claims and village-level control frequently take days to firm up. In recent months, ground truth on this part of the front has tended to emerge through a combination of official communiqués, geolocated imagery and updated operational maps.

As of late Friday, Ukrainian official and semi-official sources were aligned in stating that the immediate threat to Dobropillia had been contained and that operations to secure cleared areas were continuing.