KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities on Monday ordered families with children to urgently evacuate the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk as the Russian army advances rapidly despite a lightning-fast Ukrainian incursion into 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. Around 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, authorities said, while some have already fled their homes due to the threat posed by the Russian army.
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s most important defensive positions and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. Its capture would jeopardize Ukraine’s defense capabilities and supply routes and would bring Russia closer to its stated goal of capturing the entire Donetsk region.
One of Kiev’s attempts to relieve the pressure on its eastern front was the unexpected Invasion of the Russian region of Kursk, One of the aims was to unsettle the Kremlin and force it to divide up its military resources.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky said on Sunday that the daring move was an attempt to Create a buffer zone This could prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border, especially with long-range artillery, rockets and glide bombs. This operation continued on Monday under strict secrecy.
Russia’s relentless six-month march through the Ukrainian region of Donetsk after the capture of Avdiivka has cost a lot in terms of troops and tanks. However, the attack has gradually paid off as the Ukrainian defenders have no choice but to retreat from positions destroyed by Russian artillery, missiles and bombs.
Russia wants control over all parts of Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk, which together form the Donbass industrial region.
In Pokrovsk, residents have only two weeks to safely leave the city, officials said in an interview with US-funded Radio Liberty. Officials warned Last week it was announced that Russian forces were advancing rapidly and were only ten kilometers from the outskirts of the city.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, said on Monday that “heavy fighting” was taking place in the Pokrovsk area.
The nearby town of Toretsk, the capture of which would open the door for a Russian advance on the important fortress of Chasiv Yar from the south is also under great pressure, he said.
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 as they were able to exploit their personnel and material superiority, the Washington-based think tank said late 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.
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