2025-11-05 | Silicon Wafers 049 | DAILY UPDATES | Pokrovsk, the contested Donetsk rail-and-road hub has become the most consequential urban fight since Avdiivka, and the outcome of that fight may turn out to be instrumental for the outcome of the war, not only against Ukraine, but Russia’s war against Western democracy. In today’s episode, we are zooming in on the battle for Pokrovsk. We’ll explain why Russia is so desperate to take it, what Ukraine is doing to hold it, the claims and counterclaims on the ground, and what happens next if Russia’s offensive stalls — or if it succeeds.On Sunday, Valery Gerasimov, Russian chief of staff, told President Vladimir Putin his 2nd and 51st Combined Arms Armies were "advancing along converging axes" and "have completed the encirclement of the enemy" in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. He claimed 5,500 Ukrainian troops were surrounded. But Russian military reporters contradicted these claims, with one named "Military Informant" telling 621,000 Telegram subscribers, "There is simply no encirclement". Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi was categorical last Saturday: while the situation in Pokrovsk remains "hardest" for Ukrainian forces, there is no encirclement or blockade as Russia has claimed. He insisted a comprehensive operation to destroy and dislodge enemy forces from Pokrovsk is ongoing.----------Partner on this video: KYIV OF MINE Watch the trailer now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arJUcE1rxY0'Kyiv of Mine' is a documentary series about Ukraine’s beautiful capital, Kyiv. The film production began in 2018, and much has changed since then. It is now 2025, and this story is far from over.https://www.youtube.com/@UCz6UbVKfqutH-N7WXnC5Ykg https://www.kyivofmine.com/#theprojectKyiv of Mine is fast paced, beautifully filmed, humorous, fun, insightful, heartbreaking, moving, hopeful. The very antithesis in fact of a doom-laden and worthy wartime documentary. This is a work that is extraordinarily uplifting. My friend Operator Starsky says the film is “Made with so much love. The film series will make you laugh and cry.” ----------SOURCES: Explosions at refineries/petrochemicals; blackouts: Kyiv Independent, “Explosions rock Russian ammunition depot… amid mass Ukrainian drone strike” (Nov. 4, 2025)Kstovo refinery/petrochemicals: Ukrainska Pravda (Nov. 4, 2025)Round-up of eight regions hit: UNITED24 (Nov. 4, 2025)Tuapse tanker/terminal strike: Reuters (Nov. 2, 2025)Tuapse oil spill: The Moscow Times (Nov. 4, 2025) Pokrovsk live/warlatest: Kyiv Independent (Nov. 3–4, 2025) ----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------