The authorities of the Ukrainian oblast of Donetsk, in the east of the country, have ordered this Thursday the immediate departure of families with minors from all localities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, located to the north of the region. The measure responds to the worsening of security due to Russian bombings, after the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned that they cannot leave these cities without the risk of Russia advancing towards the Dnipró province.
"We are mandatorily expanding the evacuation zone for families with children; it now covers all population centers of the communities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk," announced on social media the governor of Donetsk, Vadim Filashkin, who warned that "the security situation is constantly deteriorating," denouncing that Russian forces attack both areas "daily, hitting residential areas, civilian transport, and places where there are people."
Emphasizing that "staying there with children poses an unjustified risk," the Ukrainian leader wanted to make an appeal to the parents of the affected families: "Do not expose your children to danger and do not wait for a Russian attack to occur near your home. Evacuate right now."
Filashkin, who has stressed that "the lives of children are an absolute priority," specified that, once the evacuation of each family is completed --in which "specialized units of the Police and the State Emergency Service" participate--, they "will receive assistance to relocate to safer regions of Ukraine."
Although he did not specify what the assigned "transit point" is --the place where evacuated families arrive before being relocated--, the governor himself visited hours earlier the center designated for this type of operations in Lozova, in the neighboring region of Kharkiv, through which "more than 200 evacuated residents from Donetsk pass each day," he noted. "Since the center began operating, 66,000 people have received assistance there, including 8,400 children and 3,500 people with reduced mobility," he added.
Donetsk, already partially occupied by Russian forces, is one of the areas most affected by the war and the invasion ordered by the Kremlin, as reflected in the daily reports of casualties and destruction that Filashkin himself disseminates on his networks. On the morning of this Thursday, for example, he reported eight injured in Sloviansk and one deceased in Kramatorsk, in addition to dozens of buildings, homes, and vehicles damaged.
The decision of the governor of Donetsk contrasts with the statements made this same Thursday by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has argued that the country cannot cede the aforementioned towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, claiming that, if they do, they would give Russia a free pass to reach the Dnipró province.
However, the Kremlin insists on taking all of Donbas -- which also includes the Luhansk oblast -- as demonstrated once again by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, by dismissing without hesitation the latest offer presented by his Ukrainian counterpart to "freeze" the current front line in the east of the country in exchange for engaging in direct negotiations, as well as his general opinion on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. "My position on this is that this is not their territory; historically it is Russian territory," Putin has assured.