Ukraine's fortress cities under fire as Russia bids to seize rest of Donbas

It is so dangerous now in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk that police say it is time for civilians to get out. These neighbouring cities are the biggest still under full Ukrainian control in the eastern Donbas region. "If you take Slovyansk, it used to be hit by glide bombs roughly once a week, but now it's almost every day." Slovyansk, Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka, to the south, form part of what is known as Ukraine's "fortress belt" – a system of heavily reinforced defence lines in the east. However, Kostyantynivka only has a limited presence of Ukrainian troops left, reports say, while Russia claims to be in full control of it.

Source: BBC India/World September 10, 2026 23:22 UTC