The Ukrainian government has decided on a mandatory evacuation of the eastern Donets Basin region. The army there is fighting a fierce battle against Russian invasion troops.
Kyiv also expects the hundreds of thousands of residents who are still in combat zones in the greater Donets Basin area to leave.
The Russians and pro-Russian rebels already control part of the Donets basin and want to advance further. Many places in the Donetsk region have been targeted by Russian bombing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported in a video message.
Zelensky asks everyone to heed the evacuation call: “At this stage of the war, terror is Russia’s main weapon.”