Donetsk police urge evacuations as Russian glide bombs batter Ukraine's fortress cities

What is happening in the fortress belt?

Ukrainian authorities are urging civilians to flee the strategic eastern cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, warning that a relentless Russian glide-bomb campaign has made staying too dangerous.

In the worst-hit districts, police have begun forced evacuations of families with children. Pavlo Dyachenko of the Donetsk police said the measure is the only way to save lives under a bombardment that has rapidly intensified. Slovyansk, which used to be targeted by glide bombs roughly once a week, is now being hit almost daily.

The two neighbouring cities form the core of Ukraine's "fortress belt" — a heavily fortified defensive line in the industrial Donbas region. But that line is fracturing. Further south, the fortress city of Kostyantynivka is now largely lost, with Russia claiming full control and only a limited Ukrainian military presence remaining.

The impact of Russian glide bombs

The shift in the air war has been devastatingly swift. According to Donetsk police data, Russian forces launched 40 glide bombs at the area in June. That figure more than doubled to 109 in July, followed by 92 in August.

The human toll has risen in step. The number of civilians wounded in Slovyansk and Kramatorsk more than tripled over the summer, rising from 70 in June to 212 in August. Over those three months, 51 people were killed.

The weapons driving this offensive are conventional high-explosive bombs fitted with wings and satellite guidance systems, allowing Russian jets to launch them from safe distances. They glide silently toward their targets, packed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives.

"The devastation they cause is simply incredible," Dyachenko said.

On 25 August, Kramatorsk was hit by nine glide bombs in a single morning. Seven of them struck residential apartment blocks, wounding 24 people, including a two-month-old baby. Two days later, Russian jets dropped another seven glide bombs on Kramatorsk and five on Slovyansk.

What is at stake?

Kramatorsk serves as the administrative headquarters for the Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region. Losing it, along with Slovyansk, would effectively hand Russia the remainder of the Donbas, which has been a core war aim for Moscow since its full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his generals to complete the occupation of the Donbas by the end of this year. Zelensky has refused to withdraw his troops, despite diplomatic pressure.

The future of the region was a central topic when US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Kyiv last weekend following their own talks with Putin. While Witkoff has previously shown support for Russia's territorial claims, Ukraine is digging in.

To hold the line, Zelensky has created two new taskforces led by experienced generals, Andriy Biletsky and Denys Prokopenko. The stakes could not be higher. As one unnamed Ukrainian general put it, the clash in the Donbas is no longer just one front among many. It has become "probably the main battle of this year and the next."