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The governor of Donetsk, the last province in eastern Ukraine partially under kyiv’s control, urged the region’s 350,000 people to flee on July 6, amid heavy Russian bombardment and reports of more deaths. In the city of Sloviansk, belonging to this province, the authorities evacuated some inhabitants, while Moscow troops advance towards the town in their attempt to control the Donbass region.
The Kremlin continues to intensify its offensive to try to take over eastern Ukraine.
Despite the air and artillery attacks, the Ukrainian authorities reported that they managed to continue this July 6 with the evacuations of some civilians from the city of Sloviansk, which the United Kingdom considers to be the next great theater of war in the Donbass.
The city belongs to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, still partially under local forces, but remains under heavy bombardment as invading troops backed by pro-Russian separatists push west.
AFP reporters said several rockets crashed into the Sloviansk market and surrounding streets as firefighters rushed to put out the flames.
“20 years of work and everything is lost. There is no more income, there is no more wealth,” lamented Yevgen Oleksandrovych, 66, as he inspected the site of his auto parts shop, destroyed in the attacks.
In recent weeks, Russia has increased its attacks on Donetsk, the southern part of which it already controls.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have said in the last few hours that their army has thwarted an attempt by the foreign military to advance into the north of that province, although they admit that both the city of Sloviansk and other areas with civilians are being heavily bombed.
On Sunday, July 3, Moscow indicated that it had completed its takeover of neighboring Lugansk province, following the capture of the city of Lysychansk, much of which is now in ruins.
However, the governor of Lugansk, Serhai Haidai, reported on Wednesday that the fighting and resistance by the Ukrainian military continues there, where 15,000 civilians still remain.
“Today’s videos from Lysychansk are painful to watch,” said the official, who accused Vladimir Putin’s troops of engaging in a policy of destruction “by burning and destroying everything in their path.”
At least 12 civilians killed; urgent evacuation of 350,000 people in eastern Ukraine
In the last 24 hours, at least 12 civilians have been killed and 25 wounded amid relentless shelling of the Kremlin, local authorities said.
The office of the President of Ukraine said that Russian forces attacked cities and towns in the south-east of the country and that most of the deaths were recorded in the Donetsk province.
Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko stated in a Telegram post that two people died in the city of Avdiivka, which is in the center of the province, and the cities of Sloviansk, Krasnohorivka and Kurakhove, in Donetsk province, each reported to the least one civilian dead.
“Any crime will be punished,” warned the official.
Given this scenario, Kyrylenko urged the more than 350,000 remaining residents in the province to flee and stressed that evacuating the entire area is necessary to save lives and allow the Ukrainian Army to better defend itself against the Russian advance.
For their part, Moscow-backed separatists accused Ukrainian forces of attacks in which four civilians were killed.
Nearly nine million civilians have fled Ukraine since Moscow ordered the conflict.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that around nine million citizens have been forced to leave Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the war on February 24.
UNHCR published this Wednesday, July 6, that 8.7 million people have left Ukrainian soil since then. The figure may increase considerably at a time when the Ukrainian authorities urge more citizens to leave their territories to save their lives, especially in the east of the country.
Donetsk and Lugansk provinces comprise the vast eastern Donbass region, which has seen Europe’s biggest war in years and which Russia hopes to wrest control of.
Moscow indicates that completely expelling the Ukrainian military from both areas is essential for what it calls a “special military operation”, in order to guarantee its own security. The offensive, which is now 133 days old, is considered by the West to be an unprovoked war of aggression.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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