Authorities have urged civilians in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk to evacuate immediately in the face of rapidly advancing Russian forces, while Moscow claims to have repelled an attempted Ukrainian incursion into the border region of Bryansk. <\/p>\n
Communities in and around Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, are being urged to flee within the next two weeks as Russian forces are rapidly advancing. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t wait. It will not get better, it will only get worse. Leave.\u201d That was the stark warning of local official Yurii Tretiak, the head of the military administration in the town of Myrnohrad, which is now less than 3 miles (4.8km) from the frontline. <\/p>\n
There are nearly 59,000 residents in the entire community, which encompasses Pokrovsk City, Myrnohrad town and 39 surrounding villages, according to the Pokrovsk City military administration. Roughly 600 to 700 people have been evacuating daily, the administration said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe enemy is advancing faster than expected,\u201d Tretiak said in a radio interview on Tuesday. \u201cSo we are trying to do as much as possible to evacuate people by the end of the week.\u201d <\/p>\n
While Pokrovsk is not a major city \u2013 about 60,000 people lived there before the war and many have left since the start of the full-scale invasion \u2013 it serves as a key hub for the Ukrainian military thanks to its easy access to Kostiantynivka, another military center. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian troops use the road connecting the two to resupply the front lines and evacuate casualties toward Dnipro. <\/p>\n
Children with their parents or other legal representatives will be forcibly evacuated from certain districts of eater Ukraine\u2019s Donetsk region, including the Pokrovsk district, according to the Ukrainian ministry responsible for the reintegration of regions that previously fell under Russian control. <\/p>\n
But Tretiak said many people are still reluctant to leave \u2013 even going so far as to hide their kids from local authorities, promoting the military administration to make house visits. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have cases when parents hide their children. Today (August 20) we will have a meeting with the police to discuss how we will work with such people, how we will search for such parents who hide children and give false information that the children have long since left,\u201d he said, noting that dangers are increasing with some areas of town facing daily attacks. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose who hesitated a week ago have mostly decided and are leaving en masse,\u201d he said, noting that for residents who have yet to evacuate, \u201cthe most common argument is that \u2018I have nowhere to go\u2019 or \u2018no one needs me.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
The evacuations come as Ukraine\u2019s Armed forces said Wednesday that Pokrovsk is now \u201cthe hottest\u201d front of the war. \u201cThe situation in the Pokrovsk sector remains tense. Ukrainian troops repelled 11 attacks, fighting continues in four locations,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s Armed Forced said in the latest update. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces are being reinforced in the eastern region to repel a potential Russian advance. <\/p>\n
In his nightly address, Zelensky said: \u201cThe frontline is our position, first of all Pokrovsk direction, our Donetsk region. We understand the moves of the enemy and are strengthening ourselves.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Russian forces repelled a Ukrainian incursion attempt into the border region of Bryansk on Wednesday, according to the local governor. <\/p>\n
\u201cOn August 21, an attempt to infiltrate the Ukrainian DRG into the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped in the Klimovsky district of the Bryansk region,\u201d regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said on his official Telegram channel Thursday. <\/p>\n
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) forces and military units responded to the Ukrainian attempt to break through, Bogomaz said, adding the area where the clashes took place is now stable and under Russian control. <\/p>\n
Ukraine has not commented on the alleged incursion. <\/p>\n
Ukraine has previously targeted the Bryansk region in operations launched since its incursion into Russia more than two weeks ago. <\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s bold cross-border advance in Russia\u2019s Kursk region has seen Kyiv\u2019s troops claim over 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of Russian territory and take out key bridges in the western part of the country. <\/p>\n
The assault \u2013 which poses a major embarrassment for the Kremlin \u2013 represents a notable change in tactics for Kyiv, marking the first time foreign troops have entered Russian territory since World War II. <\/p>\n
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