““There is a great fear that you will simply come under fire, which is chaotic. There is no such place in the city that is not shot by artillery or FPV drones””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Our mine is no longer working, only for support, there is no mining. There are several shops in the city. There is a great fear that you will simply come under fire, which is chaotic. There isn’t a place in the city that isn’t bombarded by artillery or FPV drones. A city hospital still operates in the city, in an abbreviated format. There is also one Ukrposhta branch still operating,” Dobryak said.
According to him, shelling of the city has become more frequent, and most public services are unavailable. Despite this, 7,200 people remain in Pokrovsk. There are also specialists who take care of the elderly and “persuade those who have not yet left.”
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The head of the city community says that the “fear of leaving the city” is stopping people from evacuating, but local authorities are urging people to move to safer areas.
“The shelling situation is worsening, they have become more frequent. Today, we have no electricity in the city, no gas supply since December 12, no water supply since the summer. There are still a few female specialists working, who take care of the elderly and persuade those who have not yet left to leave. Today, 7,200 people remain in the city. A little more than 10% of the population remains (more than 60,000 people lived in Pokrovsk before the start of the full-scale invasion – ed.). The first is the fear of leaving the city. Fear of where to go and what to go with is a standard refusal. But when a person “flies” and he survives in his building, he still leaves,” the official said.
The official says that the Ivano-Frankivsk region is currently accepting the evacuees, where shelter is provided in compact housing. Although, according to him, many people find a separate apartment.
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“Today, the host country for people from Donetsk region is the Ivano-Frankivsk region. These are places of compact living, but this is the point of entry. In order for a person to be able to come and settle down, there are schools and dormitories, but not everyone wants to live in compact housing. But as an entry point – it is needed so that a person can wash himself, give himself advice, gather his thoughts. It lasts as long as necessary, it may not leave there,” Dobryak asserts.
The day before, the deputy head of the city’s military administration, Oleksiy Stebel, reported that 7,000 civilians remain in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region.
The DeepState Project and the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) report that in the first days of 2025, the Russian army is actively capturing new territories to the south, southeast and east of Pokrovsk.
According to DeepState data, the aggressor is not going to storm the city head-on – but will focus on the roads leading to Pokrovsk.
ISW put forward the same hypothesis. According to the Institute’s analysts, the Russian Federation has concentrated its efforts on attempts to surround Pokrovsk – and this is why it is advancing in the Vozdvizhenka area 20 kilometers east of the city.