Ukraine says it has eliminated a Russian brigade commander in the occupied Donetsk region, as the region braces for intensified assaults ahead of Friday’s talks that could see Kyiv pressured to cede the hard-fought territory.

In its Monday evening update, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) said that using an unspecified “high-precision weapon,” Ukraine struck a Russian-occupied Donetsk region command post used by Russia’s 85th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, killing a brigade commander with the call sign “Dnepr” and five other “operational personnel.”

“The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to destroy the command posts of the occupying Russian troops,” the update said, adding that more details will follow.

While the specific location of the attack has not been specified, the Ukrainian open-source battlefield map DeepState UA said the brigade is headquartered near Klishchiivka, a settlement south of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region have come under intensified pressure from Russian attacks ahead of Friday’s talks in Alaska between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The region is one of four claimed by Moscow in illegal referendums in late 2022 and, along with the Luhansk region, is rumored to be on the list of regions Kyiv may be pressured to cede in exchange for Russia halting advances elsewhere and withdrawing from the Kharkiv and Sumy regions – two regions it has not claimed via illegal referendums.

At present, Russia has occupied nearly the entirety of the Luhansk region and the majority of the Donetsk region, with Ukrainian strongholds such as Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk having come under additional pressure in recent days.

For Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub and bulwark against Russian advances toward Ukrainian-held Sloviansk and Kramatorsk – the General Staff said Monday evening that Moscow has been throwing troops at Ukrainian positions in a bid to break the defense lines.

“The enemy is using its numerical superiority and, losing personnel on a large scale, is trying to infiltrate in small groups through the first line of our positions,” the General Staff said in its Monday evening update.

“By decision of the Commander-in-Chief, additional forces and means have been allocated to detect and destroy enemy sabotage groups that are penetrating the defense line,” it added.

In addition to direct assaults on Pokrovsk, Russian forces have advanced north toward Dobropillia, in what observers believe is an attempt to bypass Ukrainian fortifications and encircle Pokrovsk from the north.

According to DeepState UA, Russian forces have captured several settlements east of Dobropillia and established a foothold there in just two weeks, with elements from four motorized rifle brigades.

Commenting on the reported advances, Lt. Col. Viktor Trehubov of the Dnipro Special Operations Command said Tuesday that they involve small Russian infiltration groups of just 10-15 troops per group, calling the reports “not reliable” and unreflective of actual facts.

“As is known, the Russians use the tactic of infiltration by small groups past the first line of defense, losing a lot of personnel, which happened near Dobropillia. A small enemy group bypassed Ukrainian positions and tried to hide in our rear, but the Defense Forces are repelling such attempts,” Trehubov said, as per a report by the AFU’s Strategic Communication.

Open-source reports confirmed that Kyiv has deployed reserve units to the sector.