APT Opinion | Pokrovsk Encircled: Putin's Vision for 'White Gold' Lithium, What Trump Also Wanted - video Dailymotion

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In this episode of APT Opinion, we break down the battle that could define the entire war in Ukraine. Pokrovsk — or Krasnoarmeisk — once a quiet industrial town, is now the epicenter of the conflict. Russian forces have reportedly surrounded the city, trapping thousands of Ukrainian troops as Kyiv struggles to hold its last major stronghold in Donbass. Is this the moment that ends Ukraine’s counteroffensive dream? Or will the West double down once again?  #UkraineWar #Pokrovsk #Donbass #APTOpinion #RussiaUkraine #Zelensky #Putin #UkraineFrontline #Donetsk #UkraineCrisis

Transcript

00:00Let me ask you this, how do you stop a war that was never meant to be won, only prolonged?

00:07Because what's unfolding right now in Pokrovsk, or as the Russians call it, Khrushnarmysk,

00:13this may just be the moment that defines not only Ukraine's fate, but the entire Western project in this war.

00:20Good evening everyone and welcome back to APT Opinion.

00:24If you're new here, hit that subscribe button and jump into the conversation in the comment section.

00:29Because what's happening in Donbass right now, it's bigger than one city.

00:34It's about narratives, it's about power and the slow death of illusions.

00:40So let's dive right in.

00:53Pokrovsk, a dusty industrial town that for years barely made global headlines,

00:58now has become the centre of the world's most misunderstood battle.

01:03The Western media still clings to the hope of a counter-offensive rebound.

01:07But the reality on the ground tells a very different story.

01:11The Russian army, steady, methodical, has done what it does best.

01:17Grind down, encircle and wait for its enemy to collapse from within.

01:23What about Ukraine?

01:25Well, Kiev is trapped in its own propaganda loop.

01:29Zelensky's officials claim there's no crisis.

01:32His advisor, Mikhail Podolyak, insists special units are clearing, infiltrating Russian troops.

01:39But when your own president is pleading non-stop with allies for weapons,

01:43when your brigades are fighting, encircled, without supply lines,

01:48those words sound more like denial than strategy.

01:51What I'm saying is, Pokrovsk isn't just another dot on the map.

01:57It's a fortress city, a logistics hub, and the second largest Ukrainian stronghold left in Donbass.

02:03Before the war, 200,000 people lived here.

02:06Today, it's become the eye of the storm.

02:09And here's what makes it so strategic.

02:12It sits high on a ridge.

02:14Whoever controls Pokrovsk controls the approach westward.

02:18And beyond it, there's open terrain, no major urban defenses, no natural obstacles.

02:25If I'm thinking like the army, winning Pokrovsk would be like knocking down the last domino

02:29before the entire line collapses.

02:33Now, here's the twist that Western analysts prefer to ignore.

02:37Near Pokrovsk lies one of Europe's biggest lithium deposits.

02:41Yes, lithium, the white gold of the energy race.

02:46The lithium that was famously discussed between Trump and Zelensky in what was supposed to be a rare earth minerals deal.

02:54So now, what does this look like?

02:56Just a military battle?

02:58Or also an economic one?

03:00Let's rewind to how we got here.

03:02The Russian offensive that began in early 2024, after the fall of Avdivka, did not stop.

03:09It rolled slowly, relentlessly through the central Donetsk front.

03:14A war of attrition that may have looked boring to TV audiences,

03:18but was absolutely devastating to Ukrainian logistics.

03:22Town by town, trench by trench, the Russians advanced.

03:26First through Kurokova, then Uglidar, and now into Pokrovsk itself.

03:30By mid-2025, the writing was on the wall.

03:34Ukraine was running low on ammunition, low on trained soldiers, low on morale.

03:39Then, by August, the Russians began their trademark move, the encirclement.

03:45Pokrovsk was sealed off on three sides.

03:48Supply routes were under fire.

03:50And soon, even the Ukrainian troops inside knew what was coming.

03:54But then, something unexpected happened.

03:57Reports surfaced that Russian troops had breached Pokrovsk's city center faster than anyone anticipated.

04:04In one single 24-hour window, the Russian army advanced 20 kilometers,

04:10their fastest push since the start of the war in 2022.

04:14Now, take a moment to think about that.

04:16Because after years of slow, grinding combat, that's lightning speed.

04:21And while Kiev's PR machine was insisting everything was under control,

04:26their own generals were fighting to keep just two roads open.

04:31Just two roads.

04:33It's a kind of denial mindset that's cost Ukraine entire cities in the past.

04:38Now, what I find really fascinating here is not just how Russia is fighting,

04:43but what's changed about how they fight.

04:46Remember the beginning of the war, the massive Russian tank columns and the clunky offensives?

04:52Now, Russia has transformed.

04:55Its army relies on small mobile assault units, highly coordinated, drone-guided, unpredictable.

05:02They move quietly, strike suddenly and vanish.

05:06With drones dominating the skies, this kind of warfare has become the new normal.

05:10Fast, decentralized and merciless.

05:13On the other side, Ukraine's forces are fractured.

05:17Strong points scattered across open terrain, often isolated, outnumbered and undersupplied.

05:24The ratio now, according to multiple analysts, is roughly three to six Russian soldiers

05:29for every Ukrainian in this sector.

05:32And it shows.

05:33By October, Pokrovsk was effectively taken.

05:37The southern sector fell first, then the apartment blocks in the north.

05:41Only a few residential pockets and a hospital remained under Ukrainian control.

05:47President Putin himself declared the encirclement complete.

05:51A claim that Ukraine still denies, but it's a statement that satellite images increasingly

05:56seem to confirm.

05:58And then comes Mirnagrad, the final piece of this puzzle.

06:03What's happening here?

06:04This is where two elite Ukrainian brigades, the 25th Airborne and the 38th Naval Infantry,

06:10are now reportedly trapped.

06:13Between 2,000 and 5,000 soldiers, cut off from supplies, with Russian drones hovering above

06:19day and night.

06:22Kiev is trying to resupply them using R-18 cargo drones.

06:25But seriously, how long can that last?

06:28So now, as of November 2025, we are seeing flashbacks of history.

06:34Just as the Germans once tried to relieve the 6th Army at Stalingrad, Ukraine has launched

06:39what some are calling its own Operation Winter Storm, trying desperately to break through to

06:45its trapped forces.

06:47The parallels are eerie.

06:49Helicopters have been sent in.

06:51Special forces deployed.

06:52Two choppers escaped, but the troops they dropped were annihilated by Russian FPV drones

06:58within hours.

06:59The counterattacks continue, but they're failing to regain ground.

07:03Ukrainian units here are no longer coherent brigades.

07:07There's scraps stitched together from reserve battalions and local defense units.

07:12Even now, Zelensky's command refuses to retreat.

07:15They've been told to hold the fortress at any cost.

07:19It sounds brave.

07:20But its political theater dressed up as strategy and the soldiers on the ground are paying for

07:27it.

07:27Meanwhile, in Moscow, Putin plays the long game.

07:31No flashy declarations, no timelines, just steady, methodical pressure and a war of attrition

07:38that's slowly tilting in Russia's favor.

07:41And if Mirnagrad falls, if those brigades are destroyed or captured, Ukraine will lose its

07:47ability to establish a new defensive line east of the Dnieper.

07:51The front will move west and the war will enter a new, possibly final, phase.

07:57So what does all this mean?

08:00It means that the decisive battle of 2025 isn't happening in Washington, Brussels or at the UN.

08:07It's happening here, in the rubble of Pokrovsk, where the last illusions of Ukraine's counter-offensive

08:14dream are collapsing.

08:16And that brings us back to the question I started with.

08:20How do you end a war that was never meant to be won?

08:24Maybe by facing the truth that for years, Western taxpayers have been funding a fantasy,

08:31not a fight.

08:31I want to know what you think.

08:34Is this the turning point of the war?

08:36Has Kiev run out of time or will the West double down again?

08:40Will it keep feeding an unending war down to the last Ukrainian?

08:45Drop your comments below.

08:46And if you want more stories like this, no filters, no excuses, hit that subscribe button

08:52and check out our substack.

08:54Because this is APT Opinion and the story is far from over.

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APT Opinion | Pokrovsk Encircled: Putin's Vision for 'White Gold' Lithium, What Trump Also Wanted

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