- Ukraine orders evacuation of eastern cities
Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of children and their supervisors from areas in the Donetsk region in the east of the country. "The enemy is bombing the cities and villages of these communities every day, so it was decided to evacuate children with their parents or legal guardians to safety," said the governor of Donetsk, Vadym Filashkin. He published a list of cities and villages in areas where Russia had recently reported territorial gains.
Meanwhile, Russia reported the capture of another village in eastern Ukraine. "Units of the Central Group" have "liberated" Novoselivka Persha in the Donetsk region, the defense ministry in Moscow said in its daily report on Sunday. The village is about 20 kilometers away from the city of Avdiivka, which Russia captured in February.
Russia has gradually gained ground in recent months since the Ukrainian counteroffensive failed in the summer of 2023 - and since the capture of Avdiivka, which served as a fortress for the Ukrainian army. The Donetsk region is one of the four Ukrainian regions whose annexation Russia announced in September 2022, despite not militarily controlling them.
The governor's decision to evacuate children from the Donetsk region is aimed at shielding them from the daily bombings. Russia's recent territorial gains in the east of Ukraine have left several communities, including children, at risk.
