Ukraine civilians flee advancing Russian troops in east
Ukrainian civilians were evacuated from areas near the front line on Wednesday as Russian forces seized more territory in the eastern Donetsk region.
- Ukraine civilians flee advancing Russian troops in east
- Russian troops advance toward the key logistics hub of Pokrovsk
- Both Russia and Ukraine continue intense drone strikes.
Russian forces have occupied several towns and villages in recent days as Moscow struggles to fend off a Ukrainian counter-offensive for the western Kursk region.
Civilians in Mirnograd, less than 10 kilometres from the front line, told AFP that two and a half years after Russia launched a full-scale invasion, increasing shelling has finally prompted some people to leave the country.
“The situation is really getting worse, we have to quit. Not every day, but every hour, like an avalanche,” said Maksim, a 40-year-old miner. In the latest attack, windows were smashed in his ninth-floor apartment building.
“I thank God I wasn’t at home… but life is precious so I decided to leave.”
An AFP reporter saw civilians watching houses burn after Russian artillery fire on the small town. Firefighters also fought to put out a blaze at another house that was recently attacked.
Russian forces are battling for a key logistics hub in the strategic city of Pokrovsk, five kilometres west of Mirnograd. Authorities on Monday urged families with children to leave Pokrovsk and the surrounding area, where more than 50,000 people still live.
“We’ll get along”
Galina, 74, also left the area on Wednesday, heading for the relative safety of central Ukraine.
“My son-in-law found me a one-room apartment. It’s OK, we’ll get along. We used to live in a dormitory,” she said. “I feel sorry for the children,” she said, describing how several generations of her family fled.
Anatoly, 60, decided to leave after witnessing two attacks on his neighborhood.
“It’s awful, but thank God we’re all alive,” he told AFP.
Asked if he would ever return, Maxim said, “I’d like to think so.”
Russia announced its latest territorial incursion on Wednesday. The defence ministry said its forces had taken the town of Zerany, about 20 kilometres to the southeast.
Moscow claims to have annexed the Donetsk industrial region and three other regions in eastern and southern Ukraine, but does not control any of them entirely. The region was at the heart of the 2014 war between Russia and Ukraine, when Moscow-backed separatists tried to seize the Donbas region and secede from Kiev.
Ukrainian military forces have disputed Russia’s claim that it has seized New York City, one of its main targets in recent months.
The Moscow Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian forces had captured the city in a recent advance.
Drone strikes
Kiev may have hoped that the Kursk border raid, now in its third week, would force Moscow to withdraw its forces from other parts of the front line.
It claims to have seized dozens of settlements and more than 1,000 square kilometers of territory in an unprecedented cross-border offensive. For now, there are few signs of abatement in fighting on Ukraine’s eastern front.
The two countries also launched drone attacks on Kiev and Moscow overnight.
Russia said it had destroyed 45 drones, 11 of which were aimed at the Russian capital.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said “this is one of the largest attempts to attack Moscow with drones.”
The Ukrainian Air Force said it had detected 72 aerial targets over Ukraine and shot down 50 drones, including one aimed at Kiev, and one missile.
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