(Al Jazeera Media Network) Ukrainian authorities have issued an urgent order to families with children to evacuate the eastern city of Pokrovsk, where the Russian army is bearing down fast despite a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
Local authorities said Russian forces are advancing so quickly that families must leave the city and other nearby towns and villages starting Tuesday. Around 53,000 people still live in Pokrovsk, officials say, while some have already fled their homes as Russia’s army advances.
Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin called Monday’s decision to evacuate “necessary and inevitable”.
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. Its capture by Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, would compromise Ukraine’s defensive abilities and supply routes and would bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the entire Donetsk region.
One of Kyiv’s attempts to ease the pressure on its eastern front was the unexpected August 6 incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which among other goals aimed to unnerve the Kremlin and compel it to split its military resources.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the daring incursion is trying to create a buffer zone that might prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border, especially with long-range artillery, missiles and glide bombs. That operation was continuing on Monday under secrecy.
Russia’s relentless six-month slog across Ukraine’s Donetsk region following the capture of Avdiivka has cost it heavily in troops and armour. However, the onslaught has gradually paid dividends as Ukrainian defenders have no choice but to pull back from positions blown to pieces by Russian artillery, missiles and bombs.
Russia wants control of all parts of Donetsk and neighbouring Luhansk, which together make up the Donbas region.
In Pokrovsk, residents have just two weeks to leave the city safely, officials said in an interview with the United States-funded Radio Liberty. Officials warned last week that Russian forces were rapidly advancing and were just 10 km from the city’s outskirts.
