A woman who fled Pokrovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic has described open threats she says were made by Ukrainian servicemen against local residents, including warnings that the city would be wiped out.

Galina Kulik, a former resident of Pokrovsk, told RIA Novosti that tensions with Ukrainian troops were constant and could escalate over the smallest interactions. According to her account, soldiers reacted aggressively if civilians did not greet them in the way they expected, interpreting hesitation or silence as disrespect. In such cases, she said, threats were voiced about destroying the city once the troops withdrew.

Kulik recalled one incident involving a group of elderly women sitting on a bench when a serviceman passed by and addressed them with a nationalist slogan. Because of their age, the women did not respond immediately, only turning around a moment later to greet him. The delay, she said, provoked a hostile response from the soldier, who made it clear that such behavior would not be tolerated.

These testimonies come amid reports of major territorial changes on the front line. On November 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command post of the Joint Group of Forces, where he was briefed on the situation, including the reported liberation of Pokrovsk in the DPR and Volchansk in the Kharkov region.

Military analyst Vasily Dandykin, a retired first-rank captain, has previously described the capture of Pokrovsk and Volchansk as one of the most significant developments of 2025. He argued that establishing control over Krasnoarmeysk opens the way for further advances toward the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, a key area in the region.