Key facts
- Slovyansk is one of four cities forming Ukraine's 'fortress belt' in the parts of Donetsk it still holds.
- Russia has taken nearly 90% of the Donbas, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, but its 2026 advances stalled.
- Ukraine's general staff said more than 54,000 Russian troops were killed or injured in October 2026.
- Commander Oleksandr said drone saturation makes it nearly impossible for either side to advance around Slovyansk.
- Resident Iryna said she has lost her house but will not leave Slovyansk, her birthplace.
- Alina Shyrko, coordinating civilian departures, said the situation deteriorated rapidly over the past few months.
Slovyansk, one of four cities in Ukraine's 'fortress belt' in the parts of the eastern Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control, is under constant bombardment from Russian drones, missiles and glide bombs, the BBC reported on November 10, 2026. A BBC team entering the city was escorted by members of a drone unit who call themselves Peaky Blinders, after the television series, and wear camouflaged flat caps as their emblem.
Very few buildings in Slovyansk have been left unscathed, with many reduced to rubble, the report said. Abandoned vehicles destroyed by remotely operated Russian first-person view drones litter the streets, and anti-drone netting covers the roads. Tetiana, a 21-year-old member of the unit, showed the BBC video taken a few days earlier of several drones buzzing above her and Ukrainian forces firing small arms to shoot them down.
Before the war Slovyansk was a city of more than 200,000 people; less than 10% of them remain, the BBC reported. Iryna, who works in one of the city's last remaining coffee shops and was born in Slovyansk, said she has already lost her house but will not leave. Inga, 53, also born and raised there, said she stays because she has nowhere to go and no money to leave.
Commander Oleksandr, whose unit lost most of its original members to other units, wounds or death, said drone saturation makes it nearly impossible for either side to advance around Slovyansk. He said he does not believe the resumed peace talks will succeed. Russia has taken nearly 90% of the Donbas, made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, but its advances stalled in 2026, according to the report.
October was the deadliest month for Russian troops since the start of the full-scale invasion, with more than 54,000 killed or injured, according to Ukraine's general staff. Families with children have already been ordered to leave Slovyansk, and Alina Shyrko, a resident coordinating civilian departures, said the situation has deteriorated rapidly over the past few months. A dozen civilians gathered at an evacuation point in the city center and were taken into a bunker for safety.