Pokrovsk residents have 2 weeks to evacuate as Russian forces advance, authorities say

Editor's note: The article was updated with a statement by Governor Vadym Filashkin about the mandatory evacuation of children.

Pokrovsk's residents have a week or two to evacuate as Russian forces are closing in on the Donetsk Oblast city, the administration head, Serhii Dobriak, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Aug. 19.

Moscow began concentrating its efforts in the east, "throwing everything they have" in the Pokrovsk direction after Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive failed, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in late July.

Pokrovsk is an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian forces that supports their operations in Donetsk Oblast. Around 53,000 people remain in the city.

"We had 13,700 children before the full-scale war (in Pokrovsk). Now, there are still 4,788 children in the community. That is, a third of them remain," Dobriak said.

"I think we will reach the point this week that we make the evacuation of children mandatory," he added. The obligatory evacuation of children and their families from the Pokrovsk community was announced later the same day by Governor Vadym Filashkin.

An average of 500-600 people leave the city every day, and 60% of the residents leave using their own means of transport, according to Dobriak.

"Yesterday (Aug. 18), 490 people left (Pokrovsk). Only 135 of them left by train. The rest left by their own transport, with their belongings, with a trailer. We can easily evacuate at least 1,000 people. We have the resources for that. If only they would leave," Dobriak said.

On Aug. 15, Dobriak urged residents of Pokrovsk to evacuate as soon as possible because Russian troops were 10 kilometers from the outskirts of the city.

As Russian forces concentrate more of their recourses on the offensive in Donetsk Oblast, the situation in the area in the Pokrovsk direction remains "extremely challenging," Kyiv acknowledged.

Russian forces have been slowly but consistently gaining ground in Donetsk Oblast, and the front-line areas of Pokrovsk and Toretsk have borne the brunt of attacks in recent weeks.

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The Kyiv IndependentEmmanuelle Chaze