The situation around Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast continues to worsen due to the gradual advance of Russian troops from the direction of Chasovye Yar. Over the past two months, the front line has moved closer to the city by about five kilometers, which already allows the occupiers to more actively use artillery and strike drones in residential areas.
This was reported by a senior lieutenant of the Defense Forces of Ukraine with the call sign "Alex". According to him, residents are increasingly hearing artillery shelling, and drones in the eastern districts of the city have become an everyday occurrence.
" The artillery barrage is getting closer and closer, and drones in the eastern part of Kramatorsk have already become commonplace ," the military officer noted.
He warned that if the Russian army advances further, the city could face a particularly difficult summer period of fighting.
According to analysts from the Ukrainian OSINT community DeepState, Russian units are currently about 14.5 kilometers away from Kramatorsk. This creates the prerequisites for systematic fire pressure on the city even without a direct assault.
Adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Serhiy Beskrestnov, known as “Flash,” also confirmed the increased shelling. He said that Russian artillery had already begun reaching the city, and expressed fears that Kramatorsk could repeat the fate of the destroyed frontline settlements in Donbas.
According to the city's mayor, Oleksandr Honcharenko, Russia has shelled Kramatorsk at least 853 times since the start of the full-scale invasion. The attacks have killed 146 civilians and injured another 695.
The shelling completely destroyed 11 apartment buildings and 126 private houses, damaged hundreds of residential buildings, dozens of educational institutions, hospitals, and cultural institutions.
An additional danger, according to Stanislav Bunyatov, call sign "Osman", a soldier of the 24th separate assault battalion "Aidar", is posed by the so-called "waiters" - enemy drones that can wait for a long time for a target and attack equipment even from the roofs of high-rise buildings.
He emphasized that the issue of installing anti-drone nets over the cities of the Donetsk region has been raised since 2023, but no systematic decisions have been made yet. In his opinion, only public outcry can accelerate the strengthening of the protection of frontline cities.
Amid the intensification of Russian offensive actions, Kramatorsk remains one of the key logistical and defensive centers of Ukrainian forces in Donbas, and the further development of the situation will directly depend on the stability of the front in the Chasovye Yar direction.
