The population of Popasna has decreased by 98% since the occupation

Approximately 250 people live in occupied Popasna, Luhansk Region. This is almost 98% less than the city’s population as of 2019.

This was stated by the so-called “ombudsman” of the “LPR” group, Danylo Styazkin.

“About 250 local residents live in Popasna today <…> Unfortunately, today we are stating the fact of the difficult situation in which people find themselves,” Styazkin said.

It should be noted that as of 2019, 19,694 people lived in Popasna.

Styazkin also accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of destroying Popasna. For some unknown reason, he did not mention that it was the Russian army that carried out large-scale shelling of the city in order to displace the garrison of the Ukrainian military.

Popasna is located in the west of Luhansk Region. As of February 23, 2022, the demarcation line with the “LPR” grouping ran on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Fighting in the Popasna area broke out a few weeks after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation. The first assaults on the city by Russian troops and formations were recorded on March 17.

Fighting for the city continued until early May, and on May 8 it became known that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had withdrawn from the city.

As a result of the fighting and shelling by the Russians, Popasna was completely destroyed. Not a single intact building remained in the city.

In December 2022, it became known that the Russians did not intend to rebuild Popasna. They want to restore only a small part of the city adjacent to the railway station.

In March 2023, the Russians adopted the “administrative and territorial structure” of the captured part of the region. It turned out that the Russians no longer consider Popasna a city.

And in September 2023, Google Maps updated its satellite map of the Popasna area. The new images show the terrible destruction of the city.

Earlier, it became known that an illegal prison operates in the destroyed Popasna, where Russian soldiers are held before being shot.