KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk urged civilians on Friday to speed up their evacuation as the Russian army rapidly closes in on what has been one of Moscow’s main targets in the region for months. the war.
The call for the population to leave as soon as possible came as Kiev forces are trying to shift the Kremlin’s military focus to Russian territory by launching missiles. a daring invasion across the border into the Kursk region.
The urgency also underscored the high-stakes gamble Ukraine is taking by taking the war to Russia with its sustained offensive that began Aug. 6. The attack was a bold attempt to shift the dynamics of the 2½-year conflict, but it could leave Ukraine’s thinly-armed defenses at the mercy of Russia’s advance. Kremlin forces have had battlefield momentum and superior forces in Ukraine’s Donetsk region since the spring.
Evacuations in the Donetsk region around Pokrovsk have become increasingly urgent in recent weeks.
Pokrovsk officials said in a Telegram message Friday that Russian troops were “advancing at a rapid pace. With every passing day, there is less and less time to gather personal belongings and leave for safer regions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby cities in the Donetsk region “are facing the most intense Russian attacks.”
“Priority goods – everything that is needed – are sent there,” Zelenskyy said on X.
That same day, authorities ordered people to evacuate the city.
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