If Bakhmut fell, Sloviansk, Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk would come under attack - Sloviansk official

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"I thank the Ukrainian Defense Forces for holding Bakhmut. If Bakhmut had fallen, the number of shells that would have hit Bakhmut would have gone to Konstiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. Because the front line would be closer to these cities. Now Bakhmut takes care of everything," emphasized Lyakh.

According to the head of the Sloviansk city military administration, approximately 50,000 people live in Sloviansk.

"Locals are watching the events on the front line, our evacuation notices are in effect. Over the past three weeks, the number of people has decreased by about 1,000 residents. We can already see that people have started to leave," noted Lyakh.

• On the night of April 13, Russian troops fired on Sloviansk, Donetsk region, with S-300: one missile hit a school yard, another near the city water utility.

• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian strike on Sloviansk on April 14 damaged and destroyed more than 50 residential buildings.

• On the night of April 18, Russian troops again fired on Sloviansk, Donetsk region, with 2 S-300 missiles and 2 Shahed drones.