Authorities say 1 child remains in frontline Avdiivka

At least one child remains in the frontline city of Avdiivka as of April 24, Vitalii Barabash, the city's military administration head, said on air.

"We can't find the child, as the parents have been hiding her," Barabash said, adding that according to the law, children cannot be separated from their families - at least one parent must accompany them.

According to the official, some families do not want to comply with the evacuation order and try to hide their children.  

Barabash said that after the announcement of the evacuation order in March, about 40 families with children left Avdiivka on their own. Authorities had to locate another 10 families.

Avdiivka has been a front-line city since 2014 when Russia occupied the regional capital Donetsk. The industrial city, with a pre-war population of 32,000 people, is largely ruined. Less than 2,000 people remained in Avdiivka at the end of March, including six children.

During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Avdiivka has been one of Russia's primary goals as a key defense node in Donetsk Oblast, half of which is currently occupied.

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Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima