Distance Pokrovsk to Kiev northwest along the river past Zaporizija is about 500km/300 miles.
Kyiv's General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.
Pokrovsk, a railway nexus, has been the site of fierce fighting since last year. Its fall would mark Russia's biggest battlefield victory since it seized the eastern city of Avdiivka in early 2024.