Ukrainian population centers in the areas around Pokrovsk are feeling increasingly threatened as Russian forces appear to be moving beyond the Donetsk region frontline city.
In Dobropillya, 30 kilometers to the north of Pokrovsk, locals report a spike in overnight drone attacks, and a Russian bomb struck a shopping center on July 16, killing at least three.
Ukrainian leaders said a KAB-250 aerial bomb hit the retail complex while it was crowded with shoppers.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, confirmed the deaths while saying that rescue efforts were ongoing to determine if survivors could be located under rubble.
Authorities also said they are still assessing the extent of casualties.
“Now our rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” Filashkin told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service. “After that, we'll search the rubble and then we will have a clearer understanding of the casualties. All the wounded are receiving medical care.”
All available resources were being deployed to respond to the attack, he said.
“Authorities, the police, the State Emergency Service -- everyone is working on the spot to help the wounded and those people whose homes have been damaged as a result of the attack.”
Attacks on Pokrovsk have been intensifying after months of Russian efforts to seize control of the city, a key logistics hub for the region.
Dobropillya has, until recently, been spared from the same levels of bombardment and artillery shelling but is now seeing more and more air strikes, according to the Ukrainian military.
A Ukrainian drone unit in the area recently told RFE/RL correspondent Borys Sachalko that he believes the Russians could be making efforts to bypass Pokrovsk to avoid costly urban fighting amid the ruins of the city as they continue to press forward from the east.
