Ukraine inflicted a major blow on the Russian army's attempt to seize a strategically vital city in the Donetsk region, after recapturing a key village on the eastern front.
Putin's army has steadily been closing in on Pokrovsk in Ukraine's Donbas, with units reportedly less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) away.
The city is a major logistics and transport hub for Ukraine's military, located on a key road that allows supplies to reach other embattled eastern outposts.
Its capture has been a major objective for Putin's army, which has spared no effort and resources in trying to seize it.
As part of its Pokrovsk campaign, the Russian force took control of the village of Kotlyne, some 10 kilometres from the city.
Control of the village allowed Putin's army access to the Pokrovsk-Dnipro highway, a vital supply line for Ukrainian troops in the sector.
In a recent fierce battle, Ukrainian paratroopers from the 25th Sicheslav Separate Airborne Brigade recaptured the settlement.
Prior to the attack, Russian units had been gathering in the village, preparing to advance further in the Pokrovsk sector.
The Ukrainian paratroopers drove the Russians out of a part of the settlement north of the railroad and took control of the area.
They were also reported to have taken a number of Russian prisoners during the clear-up operation.
Earlier in February, soldiers from the 425th Skala Separate Assault Regiment had cleared a Russian trench system near Kotlyne and captured part of the village south of the railroad.
In recent weeks, Russia's advance on Pokrovks has shown signs of stalling, as its soldiers encounter fierce resistance from Ukraine's army.
Analysts at the US think-tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe Putin's army is having to recalibrate its battlefield plans in the face of the huge casualties it has suffered in its year-long attempt to seize the city.
"The year-long Russian effort to seize Pokrovsk has so far failed, and Russian forces appear to have abandoned the effort to take the city directly, preferring instead to conduct a wide envelopment," they wrote.
"The Kremlin may have abandoned even that effort for now, however, in the fact of increasing Ukrainian resistance in the area and extremely high Russian losses.”
The city has suffered extensive damage and has been practically razed to the ground, as a result of intense shelling and bombings.
Pokrovsk had a pre-war population of some 60,000, of whom around 11,000 remain.
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