Agencies-Gaza post
Zelensky forces Donetsk residents to evacuate immediately
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his government had ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents in the eastern Donetsk region, which is experiencing fierce fighting with Russia.
Zelensky added that hundreds of thousands of people still in the fighting zones of the larger Donbas region, which includes Donetsk as well as the neighboring region of Lugansk, needed to leave.
“The more people leave Donetsk now, the fewer people the Russian military will have time to kill,” Zelensky said, adding that the population will be awarded compensation.
At the same time, Ukrainian media quoted Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verchichuk as saying that evacuations should take place before the winter months begin as infrastructure for natural gas supplies in the region was destroyed.
Ukraine’s president said hundreds of thousands were still living in the Donbas areas, where fighting was raging.
Zelensky added, “Many refuse to leave, but they have to do so.”
He added, “If you have an opportunity, please speak to those who remain in the fighting zones of Donbas. Please convince them that it is necessary to leave “.
Earlier on Saturday, the Ukrainian army said it had killed more than 100 Russian soldiers in fighting in the south of the country, including the Kherson area, the focus of the Kyiv counter-attack, which is a key link in Russia’s supply lines.
The Army’s Southern Command said that railway traffic to Kherson across the Dnipro River had stopped, which could further isolate Russian troops west of the river from supplies in the occupied Crimea and in the east.
South of the town of Bakhmut, which Russia described as a major target in Donetsk, the Ukrainian army said that Russian forces had “partially succeeded” in extending control of the town of Smyhria by breaking into three axes.
Defense and intelligence officials in Britain, one of Ukraine’s strongest western allies since the Russian offensive began on 24 February, estimate that Russian forces are having difficulty maintaining their rate.
Ukraine has used long-range missile systems obtained from the West to seriously damage three bridges across the Dnipro River in recent weeks, isolating the city of Kherson, and making the Russian army the next to one.
