The city of Ukrajinsk is located just southeast of the heavily contested city of Pokrovsk, which the Russian invasion forces have had their sights on for some time. It had around 10,000 inhabitants before the major outbreak of war.
Ukrajinsk has been "liberated", according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. In the ministry's latest daily report on the progress of the war – which usually only reports on alleged Russian successes – the city is referred to as part of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, which has taken shape under Russian supervision.
Ukrajinsk is located about three miles west of the regional capital Donetsk, which has been under Russian control since the fall of 2022.
Over the past few weeks, Russia has continued to push an offensive in eastern Ukraine to achieve a breakthrough – while Ukraine has been pushing in the opposite direction and has occupied part of Russia, which has been seen as an intended diversionary maneuver.
During the night to Thursday, Russian rockets and drones struck Ukraine's capital Kiev for five hours, according to reports from the Ukrainian side.
The wave of attacks appears to have been directed at the power grid, but the majority of the projectiles were shot down by air defense. Ukrainian authorities report property damage on the ground.
Russian attacks were directed at multiple regions during the night. In Odessa, a 60-year-old civilian woman was killed when a rocket struck, according to the governor there.
