Ukraine war: as Russian troops close in, Kyiv urges civilians to evacuate Pokrovsk
- Ukrainian authorities are speeding up efforts to move civilians out of Pokrovsk as Russian forces approach the city
Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk urged civilians to speed up their evacuation on Friday because the Russian army was quickly closing in on what has been one of Moscow’s key targets for months.
Pokrovsk officials said in a Telegram post that Russian troops are “advancing at a fast pace. With every passing day, there is less and less time to collect personal belongings and leave for safer regions.”
Ukrainian troops have been trying to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine by launching a bold cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region were “facing the most intense Russian assaults.”
An aerial reconnaissance soldier with Ukraine’s 68th Separate Airborne Brigade who is helping defend the city said on Friday that he faces the same deadly monotony every day: From his position, he flies a drone to identify moving Russian infantrymen. The boom of a mortar follows after he relays the coordinates. Then, more infantrymen come in a seemingly endless wave.
“Since the Kursk operation, I haven’t noticed any changes. The Russians have the same tactics of infantry assaults: They are moving, advancing,” said the soldier, who gave only his call sign, Goose, in keeping with Ukrainian military rules.
He noted that with their powerful aerial bombs, Russia was destroying any hope Ukrainians have of holding the territory. “Russians are destroying and moving, destroying and moving,” Goose said.