Ukraine on Sunday announced the mandatory evacuation of children and their guardians from areas in the Donetsk region, where Russia has been claiming advances.
Just hours earlier, Russia said its forces had seized a nearby village, after claiming a string of villages in recent weeks—many just consisting of a few streets.
‘The enemy is bombing the towns and villages of these communities every day, so it was decided to evacuate children with their parents or other legal representatives,’ Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said, listing the towns and villages to be evacuated.
Filashkin cited the town of Novogrodovka, which is about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the village of Novoselivka Persha that Russia claimed to have captured on Sunday.
The Donetsk governor said 744 children and their families had to be relocated to four regions of Ukraine.
‘I have instructed that only armoured vehicles be involved in the process of evacuating children, as the enemy is actively using first person view drones in these communities,’ Filashkin said.
Filashkin has been urging civilians to flee the region over recent weeks because of an increase in deadly Russian bombardments.
Russia said Sunday its armed forces seized the village of Novoselivka Persha in eastern Ukraine, the latest in a string of frontline advances Moscow has claimed in recent weeks.
Now grinding through a third year of fighting, neither Kyiv nor Moscow has managed to swing the conflict decisively in their favour, even though Moscow’s forces have gained ground in recent months.
Russia’s defence ministry said forces had ‘liberated the settlement of Novoselivka Persha’ that lies in the Donetsk region around 20 kilometres northwest of Avdiivka, which Russia seized in February.
Moscow has claimed to have taken a string of villages in the Donetsk region in recent weeks—many consisting of just a few streets.
Russia claimed to have annexed the Donetsk region—along with three others in eastern and southern Ukraine—in 2022, despite not fully controlling it.
Ukraine has received its first batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, adding that more are needed to beat back Russian forces.
‘We often heard the word ‘impossible’. Now it is a reality. Reality in our skies. F-16s in Ukraine. We made it happen,’ Zelensky said, as some flew above him during the announcement.
Zelensky was standing in front of what looked like two grey, partially-covered F-16s branded with the Ukrainian trident, in a location reporters were asked not to disclose for security reasons.
‘I am proud of all our guys who are mastering these aircraft and have already started using them for our country,’ he said.
