This Sunday, September 15, Russian bombings on the strategic city of Pokrovsk, an important logistics center in eastern Ukraine threatened by the advance of Kremlin troops, left at least one dead, local authorities reported.
“ At 09:15, a building near a gas station was hit by an enemy artillery strike. “, the Pokrovsk municipality said on Telegram, AFP reports. Another bombing, around 11am, hit the west of the city, killing one person, according to the same source. The Russian army, which is larger and has greater firepower, is now, according to military observers, less than ten kilometres from Pokrovsk. The supply of running water and gas has been cut off due to the fighting, local authorities announced on Thursday. Drinking water distributions have been set up. Russian strikes have also deprived large parts of the city of electricity, the city hall said the same day.
This week, local authorities and Ukrainian media also reported Russian strikes that damaged two bridges in Pokrovsk. Faced with the approach of Kremlin troops, authorities have evacuated thousands of residents since mid-August and are calling on those who remained to leave. In early September, the head of the Donetsk region administration, Vadim Filashkin, said that 26,000 people, including more than a thousand children, remained in Pokrovsk, which had a population of around 50,000 before the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Other cities in eastern Ukraine, such as Bakhmut and Mariupol, have been conquered by Moscow after being heavily bombed and turned into ruins. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged once again that the situation was “ very difficult ” for its army in the Donetsk region. In the east, the Russian army’s advance accelerated in the spring and summer, so much so that Moscow has recorded record territorial gains this year since the fall of 2022.