Nearly 1,000 civilians evacuated from Donetsk and Luhansk

Nearly 1,000 civilians were evacuated on Saturday from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian armed forces released the figures on Sunday morning. 800 people escaped from Luhansk and 189 from Donetsk.

In recent days, the Russian army has shifted the focus of its attacks in Ukraine from the area around the capital Kiev to Donetsk and Luhansk, where violence is increasing. Those two regions are partly in the hands of pro-Russian separatists, and Russia has set itself the goal of “liberating” the entire area.

About 20,598 civilians have fled from Luhansk and 6,584 from Donetsk since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian army said.