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NOVOBAKHMUTIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Three bridges on key roads leading into Donetsk were blown up Monday — an apparent attempt to slow down any possible assault by Ukrainian forces on the country's main rebel-held city.

Fighters driven out of Slovyansk and other eastern towns by the Ukrainian army had regrouped in Donetsk, a city of 1 million where pro-Russia separatists have declared independence under the Donetsk People's Republic. Pavel Gubarev, the region's self-described governor, had promised "real partisan war around the whole perimeter of Donetsk" before thousands of supporters at a rally Sunday.

It was not exactly clear who blew up the highway and train bridges Monday, but their destruction would most benefit the rebels.

In the village of Novobakhmutivka, where a rail line crosses over a highway out of Donetsk, an 11-wagon cargo train was perched perilously on the collapsed bridge. The road leads toward Slovyansk, a former insurgent stronghold that was recaptured Saturday by Ukrainian troops after intense fighting.

Anatoly Krasov, who was driving along the road Monday, said he saw an explosion before the bridge collapsed with a large cargo train on it. He said a group of men dressed in the camouflage uniforms often worn by the rebels then got into their cars and drove back toward Donetsk.

Two other bridges on roads leading from Slovyansk to Donetsk were also destroyed Monday in the villages of Zakitne and Seleznevka, the Road Transportation Agency of Donetsk Region said.

The insurgents control the regional administration building in Donetsk and checkpoints on the city's outskirts. They also face little internal resistance from police forces or government officials in the city, who have done nothing in recent months to hinder their free movement around Donetsk.

But it is unclear whether they will be able to put up major resistance in the face of a Ukrainian attack. Ukrainian forces demonstrated their superior firepower in repelling a rebel attempt to take control of Donetsk Airport in late May, a battle that left dozens of rebel fighters dead. Many residents have fled the city and the streets are often deserted but for the rebels.

Still, experts say that capturing Donetsk would be much more difficult than retaking Slovyansk, a city ten times smaller, and it could require the type of street-to-street urban warfare that would favor the rebels, not government troops.

There was no word Monday from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who had promised to start negotiations on a new cease-fire last week.

Battles between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists have left over 400 people dead and thousands homeless since they began in early April.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of fomenting the insurgency by sending troops and weapons, including tanks and rocket launchers, something Moscow denies. Putin has so far resisted demands at home and by the rebels to come to their aid, wary of having more Western sanctions slapped on Russia.

On Monday, Russia's Foreign Ministry made its first statement about Slovyansk since the city fell. It tiptoed around the rebels' defeat, only mentioning Slovyansk as part of a long list of civilian casualties.

Russia urged the European Union to put new pressure on Ukraine, which it accused of waging a "massive military operation which has resulted in the deaths of peaceful people."

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Laura Mills in Moscow contributed reporting.

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BEIJING (AP) — China's economy improved in the latest quarter but faces "downward pressure," and Beijing will increase the strength of targeted policy measures to shore up growth, the country's premier said Monday.

Speaking at a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Premier Li Keqiang gave no indication how fast the economy might have grown in the three months ending in June after expanding by 7.4 percent the previous quarter.

"China's economic performance in the second quarter has been improved from that in the first quarter. However, we cannot lower our guard against downward pressure," Li said.

Manufacturing grew in June at its strongest pace this year, but the expansion was weaker than normal.

Chinese leaders are trying to guide the economy toward self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption, rather than exports and investment. Those plans have been complicated by weakness in exports, which support millions of jobs.

The premier and other leaders have ruled out an across-the-board stimulus but have tried to head off politically volatile job losses with more spending on building railways and other public works.

The ruling Communist Party's official growth target this year is 7.5 percent, but leaders have tried to downplay expectations, saying the expansion might come in under that level.

Economic growth also is under pressure from declines in housing sales and prices, which are dragging on construction and other industries.

"The Chinese economy is also facing downward pressure, but we will keep up our composure and not adopt strong stimulus," Li said. "Instead, we will increase the strength of targeted measures."

Li promised more market-opening reforms. He has said previously improvement in economic growth must come from structural reforms, rather than stimulus spending.

On Monday, he promised to reduce burdens on small companies and to give them more access to financing.

"We must also inspire the vitality of the market and lend support to the real economy," Li said.

CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) — For years, tiny Clarksville has paid for temporary sandbag walls to protect its quaint business district and historic waterfront homes from Mississippi River flooding. But unwilling to raid its coffers again despite rising water levels, the city has left it to individual merchants and residents to safeguard their property.

After an unusually calm spring, the river is raging. Recent heavy rains in the upper Midwest have caused a sudden surge in the water level and by the middle of next week, the National Weather Service is projecting it to reach 9 feet above flood stage in Clarksville.

At that level and without sandbag protection, the downtown art galleries, antique stores and craft studios that bring tens of thousands of tourists to Clarksville each year would be threatened, as would the 19th century homes perched along a wide swath of the river.

Mayor Jo Anne Smiley said the City Council voted at an emergency meeting Monday not to fund the flood fight, and the reason was simple: There's no money for it.

"We just can't keep doing this," Smiley said.

If there was any resentment by those whose property would be in harm's way, it wasn't evident Wednesday. Several merchants and homeowners have begun working together to fill sandbag left over from last year, hoping their efforts will be enough.

"You can't fault the city for not spending money they don't have, but we're out here because you have to do something," said Mike Brewer, a 62-year-old blacksmith and sign artist.

Marge Greenwell, who runs a furniture-making business with her husband, Mike, said some merchants are unhappy with the city's decision. Rather than gripe, though, she said they are simply pitching in to fight the flood on their own.

"We're here and we're going to do something," Greenwell said. "We've worked too hard. We rehabbed all these buildings, the store fronts. We're on the National Register of Historic Places. We just pray we'll be able to keep the water away."

Whether it's due to climate change, new levees upstream that funnel more water downriver, bad luck or some combination of all three, extreme flooding has become commonplace along the Mississippi.

Six of the 10 worst floods on record in Clarksville have occurred in the past two decades. Smiley said sandbagging has been required in four of the past eight years, costing $400,000 to $700,000 each time. Much of that is reimbursed by the state and federal government, but the city of roughly 450 residents picks up enough of the tab to consume a big chunk of its $350,000 annual budget.

The state is offering some help. Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, said the agency is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to help get sandbags and plastic tarps to Clarksville, and is reaching out to volunteer groups such as the American Red Cross for assistance, in case they are needed. Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Michael Cappannari said FEMA could provide assistance if a disaster occurs.

Some might argue that Clarksville's flooding problem is self-imposed.

Since the Great Flood of 1993, which was the worst ever along much of the upper Mississippi River and caused $15 billion in damage, most river communities have built flood walls or levees, or bought out homes and businesses that were then either moved from the flood plain or bulldozed to turn the areas into green space.

Hannibal, 45 miles to the north, saw its downtown flooded time and again, often threatening Mark Twain's boyhood home and damaging many of the 19th century buildings along Main Street. The community finally gave in and built a levee, which was completed in 1992. If it had not existed, the 1993 flood would have been devastating.

But Clarksville refuses to give ground, and there is a general consensus among its residents that a levee isn't an option.

Smiley has been lobbying state and federal lawmakers to help pay for an "easy-up" wall. A German company, EKO, has developed a removable modular floodwall system. Panels are stored and can be quickly installed when a flood is imminent, and there is no unsightly permanent wall or levee.

But the system would cost $3.5 million in Clarksville, and the town has no money to pay a share of the cost.

"One of the only things we've got going for us is the Mississippi River, and the view of it for tourists is mightily important," Smiley said.

Brewer agreed as he peered out at the surging and fast-rising river.

"This is part of who we are," he said.