'Wiping out neighborhood after neighborhood' Russia pounds Ukraine's Pokrovsk, forcing civilians to flee under fire. For many, it's not the first time.
Russian forces are continuing their offensive near Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. In its Monday morning update, Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Russian troops had launched 39 attacks on the Pokrovsk front over the previous 24 hours — more than on any other section of the frontline. As Meduza reported in early April, Russia has redeployed significant forces from the Toretsk area to Pokrovsk, a shift that allowed Ukrainian troops to regain control over part of Toretsk’s city center and its western outskirts. Meanwhile, Pokrovsk remains under constant assault from Russian drones, artillery, and bombing. “KAB [guided bombs] are wiping out neighborhood after neighborhood — 30 to 60 strikes a day,” said Ukrainian photographer Kostiantyn Liberov, who visited Pokrovsk in the first half of April. According to a Ukrainian military lieutenant with the callsign “Aleks” who spoke to the news agency UNIAN, Russian forces have not managed to capture Pokrovsk, but the city is “basically being torn to pieces.” “With this level of fighting, unfortunately, Pokrovsk is headed for the same fate as Bakhmut,” he said. Pokrovsk currently serves as Ukraine’s main logistical hub for its forces in central Donbas. It’s also a base for Ukrainian drone operators, who have managed to slow Russia’s advance towards the city for several months. According to Forbes correspondent David Axe, Russian troops met a “wall of drones” when they reached the city's suburbs. Below, Meduza shares photographs taken in Pokrovsk on April 12. The strikes have continued daily since then (though their intensity waned briefly during the "Easter truce").
