The evacuation order came as Russia advanced into the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk and declared it had captured the town of Zalizne.
Ukrainian authorities have issued urgent orders to families with children to evacuate the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as the Russian army is advancing rapidly despite a lightning-fast Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s Kursk region.
Local authorities said Russian troops are advancing so quickly that families will have to leave the city and other nearby towns and villages starting Tuesday. About 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, officials say, while some have already fled their homes due to the Russian army’s advance.
Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin described the decision to evacuate on Monday as “necessary and inevitable.”
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defense strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. Its capture by Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, would jeopardize Ukraine’s defense capabilities and supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region.
One of Kiev’s attempts to relieve pressure on its eastern front was the unexpected invasion of the Russian Kursk region on August 6, which was aimed, among other things, at unsettling the Kremlin and forcing it to divide its military resources.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the daring incursion was aimed at creating a buffer zone that could prevent further attacks from Moscow across the border, particularly with long-range artillery, rockets and glide bombs, an operation that continued under strict secrecy on Monday.
Russia’s six-month, relentless march through Ukraine’s Donetsk region after capturing Avdiivka cost the country many soldiers and tanks. But the onslaught gradually paid off as Ukrainian defenders had no choice but to retreat from positions ripped apart by Russian artillery, missiles and bombs.
Russia wants control over all parts of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which together form the Donbass region.
In Pokrovsk, residents have just two weeks to safely leave the city, officials said in an interview with U.S.-funded radio station Radio Liberty. Officials warned last week that Russian forces were advancing rapidly and were only 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the outskirts of the city.
Russia conquers the city of Zalizne
Oleksandr Syrskii, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, said on Monday that “heavy fighting” was taking place in the Pokrovsk area.
The nearby town of Toretsk, whose capture would open the door for Russia to advance on the important fortress of Chasiv Yar from the south, is also under heavy pressure, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday that its forces had captured the town of Zalizne in Donetsk, as the offensive against the nearby city of Toretsk gains momentum.
Zalizne, known in Russia as Artyomovo after its Soviet-era name, borders Toretsk, a mining town and long-time stronghold of Ukrainian forces operating in the Donbass region.
According to the Institute for War Research, Russian forces in the Pokrovsk region have advanced about two square kilometers every day over the past six months.
They relied on frontal infantry attacks from village to village and made gradual progress by exploiting their personnel and material superiority, the think tank said in Washington on Sunday.
Officials from Pokrovsk met with residents to provide them with logistical details of the evacuation. People have been offered shelter in western Ukraine, where they will be accommodated in dormitories and separate houses prepared for them.
