Slovyansk and Kramatorsk continue to live normal life despite looming offensives - video interview

"I did not feel a dramatic approach of the frontline; just yesterday, I spoke with friends who live in Kramatorsk," he said.

"I was told that the city lives a normal life. One friend, who works in medicine as a pediatrician, said there are fewer child patients. Perhaps this indicates that children are being evacuated. But we understand that compared to the winter, when there was the flu, this is not a relevant indicator. And generally, I was shown what the city looks like from a window. People are walking, young people are walking around. One cannot say that something is happening there, that something has radically changed. Although those same medics say that pharmacists complain there are fewer customers."

There are some indicators that people are leaving because the frontline is approaching, these cities are attacked more, and people react to this, he noted.

"But so far, we cannot say that there is no life there," he added.

"You said it yourself, almost everything works. Hospitals work, businesses work, transport works. Utility workers are working; there is electricity and water."

Everything depends on the district — mandatory evacuation of children was announced in certain districts of Slovyansk, and their parents left with them, Harmash noted.

"But this is in certain districts. If we look at the statistics, I analyzed them, and we cannot say that more evacuations have started now. The day before, the head of the administration gave the figure of 263 people, 48 of whom were children. If we take Dec. 25, there were 198, and on Feb. 1, 337. The statistics do not show that a lot of people are being taken out or leaving. We can say that normal life continues. There are anti-drone nets, there are signs that the frontline is approaching, but it is not yet critical," Harmash summarized.

Situation around Kramatorsk and Slovyansk

Defense Forces stopped the largest motorcycle assault by Russian troops since the beginning of the year in the Slovyansk direction, thwarting a breakthrough attempt and destroying part of the occupiers' infantry, it was reported on April 1.

Russian troops used 16 motorcycles at the time, operating in small groups of three to four vehicles, hoping to break through Ukrainian positions.

The situation in this direction remains tense, the Air Assault Forces added. Russians continue to amass forces, try to improve their positions, and complicate logistics by using UAVs and remote mining systems.

Russian troops are preparing personnel and armored vehicles for a potential offensive in the Slovyansk direction while continuing to press with small groups, the 81st Airmobile Brigade reported on Mar. 14.

Russian invaders began actively using heavy bomber hexacopters, similar to the Ukrainian Vampir, in the Slovyansk direction to divert attention and complicate reconnaissance, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Air Assault Forces said on March 6.

Russia's army attacked Kramatorsk twice with aerial bombs, killing six people, including a 16-year-old boy, on April 3.

Russian troops dropped an aerial bomb on Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast, killing at least three people, including a 13-year-old boy, on March 29.

The enemy began artillery and drone preparations for a spring-summer offensive on the fortress cities of the Donbas, which could become a multi-year operation with heavy losses for the Kremlin, ISW reported on Feb. 27.

Russian units are amassing reinforcements in the Slovyansk area and shelling the suburbs in preparation for a ground assault on key Ukrainian defense positions, the analysts emphasized.