The vast majority of Donetsk residents have now fled the eastern Ukrainian region, according to a local official who said the death toll from last weekend's airstrike on the town of Chasiv Yar has risen to 34.
Driving the news: Donetsk regional military administration leader Pavlo Kyrylenko tweeted that state emergency service workers had cleared about 70% of the rubble in the Donetsk town following Saturday night's strike, but search and rescue operations continued. "One child was among the dead," he said.
By the numbers: Kyrylenko said at an event earlier that nearly 1.7 million people lived in the region on Feb. 24, when Putin's forces launched their full-scale assault, per a translation from Ukrainian news outlet Ukrinform.
- Now, about 340,000, or 20.4%, of residents remain, said Kyrylenko, who pledged to step up efforts to evacuate more residents amid heavy fighting.
The big picture: Donetsk has been the scene of intense battles in recent weeks. Russian troops have continued to make "small incremental territorial gains" in the region, "with Russia claiming to have seized control of the town of Hryhorivka," according to the U.K. Defense Ministry's Tuesday intelligence report.
- "Russian forces are likely maintaining military pressure on Ukrainian forces whilst regrouping and reconstituting for further offensives in the near future," it added.
