Ukraine urges civilians to evacuate as Russians advance in northeast

Kupiansk and the Kharkiv region were recaptured by Kyiv’s forces in September but Moscow has since pushed back in.

Ukrainian civil defence members battle a fire after Russian missiles struck Zaporizhzhia on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Ukraine urged civilians near the northeastern front line to evacuate on Thursday as Russia ramped up an assault to capture territory already seized once during the conflict.

The Kupiansk city administration said residents could evacuate to Kharkiv, 90km west, where they would have the ­option to move to safer regions, and urged children, the elderly and the sick to leave.

Kupiansk and the surrounding Kharkiv region were recaptured by Kyiv’s forces in September but Moscow has since pushed back into the region.

“Given the difficult security situation and the increasing amount of shelling by Russian terrorist forces in Kupiansk community, you have the opportunity to evacuate to a safer place,” the city said. “Do not ­neglect your safety and the safety of your loved ones.”

The warning came as Russia’s defence ministry announced its soldiers had “improved their position” along the front line near the city, after reporting advances earlier in the week.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian strike on a civilian building killed at least one person and wounded 14 others on Thursday. Among the wounded were a three-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy. “A fire broke out in a civilian building after the occupiers hit it with a missile. One person is currently reported dead,” President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

Sergiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine’s eastern forces, confirmed on national television that Russian forces were trying to break through in the Kupiansk area. “The situation remains difficult but under control,” he added.

“The evacuation started yesterday, when the order was signed,” said the head of the ­Kupiansk city military admin­istration Andriy Besedin on ­national television.

Residents could refuse to go but had to submit a written statement to the authorities, he added, and local officials were considering forcing the evacuation of children “if the escalation continues and the shelling increases”.

“It looks like the Russians are erasing places in the Kupiansk area,” said Rostyslav Melnykiv, professor at a university in Kharkiv. “People are in danger of losing their lives, not just their homes.”.

Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in June after stockpiling Western weapons, but has ­struggled to make breakthroughs. Moscow said earlier on Thursday it had downed 11 Ukrainian drones nearing the Crimean peninsula and two heading for Moscow, in the latest wave of attacks targeting Russia and Russian-held territory.

Tensions have risen on the Black Sea since Russia exited a deal allowing safe passage for grain exports. In a challenge to Russia, which announced in July that it would consider any ships nearing Ukraine in the Black Sea as potential military cargo carriers, Ukraine said it had opened maritime routes for civilian vessels from several southern ports. Ukrainian Navy spokesman Oleg Chalyk said a first ship would take the newly open route “in the near future”.

And in Washington, President Joe Biden’s administration asked congress for more than $US13bn ($19.9bn) in new military spending for Ukraine.

AFP