Russia Wounds 7 in Kramatorsk Strike as Donbas Offensive Nears 80% of Donetsk
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 10
Russia Wounds 7 in Kramatorsk Strike as Donbas Offensive Nears 80% of Donetsk
2 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 10
Summary
Seven people were wounded in Thursday's Russian strike on Kramatorsk, one of the biggest cities still fully under Ukrainian control in Donbas.
Ukrainian police say attacks on Kramatorsk and nearby Slovyansk have intensified from roughly weekly glide-bomb strikes to almost daily bombardment, prompting forced evacuations of families with children in the worst-hit areas.
212 civilians were wounded in the two cities in August, up from 70 in June, while Russian glide-bomb launches rose from 40 in June to 109 in July before easing to 92 in August.
Kramatorsk, Slovyansk and Kostyantynivka form Ukraine's eastern 'fortress belt,' but reports say Ukrainian troop presence in Kostyantynivka is now limited as Russia presses ground assaults nearby.
Russia already controls almost all of Luhansk and nearly 80% of Donetsk; capturing Kramatorsk and Slovyansk would advance Moscow's stated goal of fully seizing Donbas and open a push farther west.
If the fortress city of Kostyantynivka falls to Russian forces, will the entire eastern Ukrainian defensive line collapse like dominoes?
With Russian advances slowing to historic lows, are their relentless glide bomb attacks a sign of overwhelming strength or desperate battlefield strain?
How can trapped civilians escape a drone-saturated environment where even armored rescue vehicles are hunted from the sky?