In the eastern reaches of Ukraine, where the Donbas has long been a wound that will not close, Russia is pressing its most concentrated assault yet on the twin cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk — the last significant ground Ukraine holds in a region Moscow has claimed as its own since 2014. Glide bombs fall now almost daily where they once fell weekly, and families with children are being told, plainly, that leaving is the only way to survive. The question being asked in these streets, and in the corridors of diplomacy, is whether a fortress can hold when the siege has become the new normal.
Russia intensifies assault on Ukraine's last Donbas strongholds as civilians flee
Civilian casualties in Kramatorsk and Slovyansk increased from 16 deaths in June to 212 wounded by August; forced evacuations of families with children underway; a two-month-old baby among 24 wounded in single August 25 strike.
The question you ask yourself is: will the next one be closer?
Mark
So these are the last two major cities Ukraine still holds in Donbas. What makes them so strategically important?
Mimi
They're the gateway. If Russia takes Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, the path westward opens up. Right now they're the anchor of Ukraine's defensive line in the east. Lose them and the entire region collapses.
Luke
But we should be clear—Russia already controls 80 percent of Donetsk. These cities are the holdouts, not the majority.
Mark
The glide bomb numbers are striking. From 40 in June to 109 in July. That's a deliberate escalation.
Mimi
It's not random. Russia is trying to break the civilian will to stay, to make the cities uninhabitable. The police are now forcing evacuations because it's become genuinely too dangerous.
Luke
The casualty figures—70 wounded in June, 212 in August. That's a real increase, but it's also worth noting those are police figures. We're seeing what Ukrainian authorities are reporting.
Mark
A two-month-old baby was wounded in one strike. That's the human cost laid bare.
Mimi
Yes. And it's not just the immediate casualties. It's the constant threat. People living in darkness, hearing drones, knowing another bomb might come. That's a form of warfare too.
Luke
Zelensky is refusing to withdraw, but we don't know what pressure he's under from the US envoys. Witkoff has previously backed Russian claims. That conversation isn't public.
Mark
So the end of the year is Putin's deadline. That's only months away.
Mimi
And Ukraine is responding by putting its best generals on the line. Biletsky and Prokopenko are experienced commanders. This is being treated as the decisive battle.
Der Puls
- Glide bomb strikes on Kramatorsk and Slovyansk have tripled since June, turning what was once a weekly threat into a near-daily reality for the civilians who remain.
- A two-month-old baby was among 24 people wounded in a single morning assault on August 25, as seven of nine bombs struck residential apartment blocks — the human cost of a campaign that wounded 212 civilians in August alone.
- Russia now controls roughly 80% of Donetsk and nearly all of Luhansk, making these two cities the last meaningful anchor of Ukrainian sovereignty in a region Putin has ordered his generals to fully capture by year's end.
- Anti-drone nets drape the streets, FPV drones hover audibly outside windows, and driving has become a lethal act — volunteers describe lying still in the dark after each explosion, waiting to learn whether the next one will be closer.
- President Zelensky is refusing to withdraw, has deployed two new military taskforces under battle-hardened generals, and frames the fight not merely as a battle for Donbas but as perhaps the defining military confrontation of the entire war.
In the eastern reaches of Ukraine, where the Donbas has long been a wound that will not close, Russia is pressing its most concentrated assault yet on the twin cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk — the last significant ground Ukraine holds in a region Moscow has claimed as its own since 2014. Glide bombs fall now almost daily where they once fell weekly, and families with children are being told, plainly, that leaving is the only way to survive. The question being asked in these streets, and in the corridors of diplomacy, is whether a fortress can hold when the siege has become the new normal.
The police in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk have begun ordering people to leave. These two neighboring cities are the largest territories in Ukraine's eastern Donbas still fully under Kyiv's control, and the danger has grown acute enough that authorities are now forcing families with children out. What was once a weekly glide bomb strike on Slovyansk now happens almost every day.
The cities form the backbone of what Ukraine calls its "fortress belt" — a chain of fortified defensive positions across the eastern front. But the fortress is cracking. Russia already controls nearly all of Luhansk and roughly 80 percent of Donetsk, where both cities sit. Taking them would open a path westward and effectively end Ukrainian control of Donbas — a region Moscow has long claimed to be liberating, and the stated justification for the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.
The numbers chart the escalation plainly. Glide bomb attacks numbered 40 in June, leapt to 109 in July, and remained at 92 in August — still nearly double the June figure. Civilian casualties climbed from 70 wounded in June to 212 in August. On August 25 alone, nine glide bombs targeted Kramatorsk in a single morning; seven struck apartment blocks, wounding 24 people including a two-month-old baby. Volunteers on the ground describe streets hung with anti-drone nets, FPV drones audible through windows, and the experience of lying still in the dark after each explosion, waiting for the next.
Kramatorsk now serves as the seat of the Donetsk regional administration — a role inherited when the actual regional capital fell to Russian-backed separatists in 2014. When US envoys visited Zelensky following talks with Putin, the fate of these cities was reportedly central to the conversation. Zelensky is refusing to withdraw. He says Putin has ordered his generals to complete the occupation of Donbas by year's end, and has responded by creating two new military taskforces under experienced commanders to hold the line.
As one unnamed Ukrainian general put it, what is unfolding here is not merely a battle for Donbas — it may be the defining battle of this year and the next. Its outcome will determine not just the shape of the war, but the territorial map of Ukraine itself.
The police in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk have begun telling people to leave. These two neighboring cities are the largest territories in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region still fully under Ukrainian control, and the danger has become acute enough that authorities are now forcing families with children out. "This is the only way to save your life," says Pavlo Dyachenko of Donetsk police, describing how the security situation has deteriorated so sharply that what was once a weekly threat has become routine. Slovyansk, he notes, used to face glide bomb strikes roughly once a week. Now it happens almost every day.
These cities form part of what Ukraine calls its "fortress belt"—a network of heavily fortified defensive positions across the eastern front. Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, and Kostyantynivka to the south are the anchors of this system. But the fortress is cracking. Russia already controls nearly all of Luhansk region and roughly 80 percent of Donetsk, where all three cities sit. Kostyantynivka, according to reports, has only a limited Ukrainian military presence left, and Russia claims full control of it. For months now, the territory around Kramatorsk and Slovyansk has been the main target of Russian ground operations. Taking them would open a path westward and effectively end Ukrainian control of Donbas—a region Moscow has long claimed to be liberating and protecting, using that justification for the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.
The assault is relentless. Streets in both cities are now draped with anti-drone nets. Viktor Makurin, a volunteer from London who has been in the area, describes a landscape of constant threat: remote-controlled FPV drones hovering in the air, audible through windows, lying in ambush on roads. Driving anywhere is lethal. The background is a steady percussion of explosions, punctuated by mobile groups firing at drones. Many civilians have already fled, but those who remain live in a state of acute vulnerability.
The numbers tell the story of escalation. In June, Russian glide bomb attacks numbered 40. By July, that had jumped to 109. In August, it was 92—still nearly double the June figure. Over the same three-month period, civilian casualties from Russian strikes on the two cities climbed from 70 wounded in June to 212 in August. Deaths held relatively steady: 16 in June, 20 in July, 15 in August. Residential buildings are hit as routinely as infrastructure, causing what Dyachenko describes as "very significant destruction."
On August 25, nine glide bombs targeted Kramatorsk in a single morning. Seven struck civilian apartment blocks. Twenty-four people were wounded, among them a two-month-old baby. Two days later, the city was hit again—seven more glide bombs. That same day, five targeted Slovyansk. Glide bombs, fitted with winglets that allow them to sail toward their target rather than simply fall, are among Russia's most effective and lethal weapons. They typically weigh 250 or 500 kilograms, though Russia has deployed bombs weighing 1,500 kilograms. "The devastation they cause is simply incredible," Dyachenko says. Another British volunteer, John Auckland Abbey, posted on social media that glide bombs are "silent killers." He described waking abruptly to an explosion and lying still in the dark, knowing another would follow, asking himself whether the next one would be closer.
Kramatorsk now hosts the headquarters of the Donetsk regional administration—a role it inherited when the actual capital, Donetsk, fell to Russian-backed separatists in 2014. The fate of the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in Donbas has become a central question in the broader conflict. When US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited President Volodymyr Zelensky last weekend following talks with Putin, the status of these areas was reportedly a key topic. Witkoff has previously appeared sympathetic to Russian claims on the region, but Zelensky is refusing to withdraw Ukrainian forces. He says Putin has given his generals until the end of the year to complete the occupation of Donbas. "Putin's primary objective on the front line remains the same: Kostyantynivka-Slovyansk," Zelensky told journalists last month.
Faced with mounting pressure, Zelensky has created two new military taskforces led by experienced generals, Andriy Biletsky and Denys Prokopenko, to defend the remaining Ukrainian-held portion of Donbas. An unnamed Ukrainian general summed up the stakes plainly: "There isn't just a battle for Donbas there. What is probably the main battle of this year and the next is now unfolding." The outcome will determine not just the shape of the war, but the territorial map of Ukraine itself.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
This is the only way to save your life— Pavlo Dyachenko, Donetsk police, on civilian evacuations
What is probably the main battle of this year and the next is now unfolding— Unnamed Ukrainian general, on the fight for Donbas
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