This footage reportedly shows a column of Russian military vehicles and soldiers moving into Pokrovsk under the cover of thick fog after weeks of intense battling around the Ukrainian city.

The video clip, posted by Russian war correspondent Dmitry Steshin on November 11, appears to show dozens of troops and vehicles, including motorcycles and doorless cars, advancing through mist-shrouded streets in the city.

Steshin said the column consisted of heavily loaded motorcycles and vehicles stripped of doors so soldiers could jump out quickly in case of an approaching Ukrainian drone.

The vehicles appear mostly worn and improvised, described in Russian reports as expendable equipment.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that the operation marked the latest stage in the effort to take full control of Pokrovsk, also referred to as 'the gateway to Donetsk' in Russian media.

Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi previously said the Russian army was preparing its final manoeuvre to capture the city, admitting that the situation for Ukrainian forces there was extremely difficult.

Retired Major General Sergey Lipovoy described the video as 'epic' and said Russian troops were reinforcing the assault to speed up what he called the 'liberation' of the city.

He said: 'The fate of Pokrovsk, as of Kupyansk, is already practically predetermined. Our assault units are tightening the ring and advancing from street to street, from house to house.'

He added that there was no rush in the storming of Pokrovsk and that operations to clear the city were progressing steadily.

Reports from Russian correspondents claimed that around 2,000 Ukrainian troops were encircled in the city.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said the only chance for the surrounded Ukrainian soldiers to survive was to surrender.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in what the Kremlin is still calling a 'special military operation'.