UK pours cold water on Putin's latest boasts about Russian wins on the battlefield

 Vladimir Putin’s latest claims about Russia’s successes on the Ukrainian frontline are “almost certainly inaccurate,” according to the UK.

The Russian president alleged on Tuesday that his troops had taken complete control of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

His remarks came just as a US delegation were attempting to persuade the Kremlin to accept European counterproposals to Donald Trump’s recent peace plan – which Ukrainian allies feared was too pro-Russia.

But Moscow rejected the plan and held onto its maximalist goals for Ukraine, which includes the beleaguered country ceding even more land to Russia.

Putin already holds a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign land, having seized it by force over the last decade.

It’s widely believed that Putin thinks he is winning the war – even if the reality on the ground does not reflect that.

In its latest update on X, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed Putin had actually not managed to seize Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian city in the Donetsk Oblast.

“Russian President Putin’s 02 December 2025 reported claim that Russian Ground Forces (RGF) have taken complete control of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk is almost certain inaccurate,” the officials said.

It continued: “It is likely that Ukrainian forces retain a limited capability to launch small-scale raids into the northern part of the city, contesting full Russian control, and delaying Russian efforts at consolidation.”

The intelligence officials also pointed to the extensive losses Putin’s troops have endured since the war began.

They said: “Russian forces have sustained heavy casualties over an extended period in offensive operations on the Pakrovsk axis, contributing to the likely more than 250,000 Russian soldiers killed or missing (presumed dead) since Russia launched its illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“Ukrainian forces have continued the defence of the city itself over a period of months, despite being quantitively overmatched.”

Ukrainian forces have also dispelled Putin’s claims of victory in Pokrovsk, saying: “With its statement about the capture of Pokrovsk, the enemy, not for the first time, is trying to sell its desires fore reality.”

The Donetsk Oblast is one of the five Ukrainian regions Putin claims ownership over, even though he does not actually control the entire area.

The MoD previously revealed:  “Russia now defines both occupied and unoccupied Ukrainian territory in the Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson as well as Crimea, as being part of the Russian Federation.”