Military officials in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk issued an urgent plea on Friday for civilians to expedite their evacuation, as Russian forces rapidly advance on what has been a primary target for Moscow in the ongoing conflict.
This call for immediate evacuation coincides with Ukrainian forces attempting to shift the Kremlin’s military focus from the front lines within Ukraine to Russian territory. Ukrainian troops have launched a bold offensive into Russia’s Kursk region, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s momentum.
The urgency of the evacuation underscores the high-risk strategy Ukraine is employing by extending the conflict into Russian territory with the ongoing Kursk operation, which began on August 6. This offensive is a daring move to alter the trajectory of the 2½-year war but comes with significant risks. There is a potential for Ukraine’s defenses on the eastern front, particularly in Donetsk, to be left vulnerable as Russian forces continue their advance. Since spring, Russian forces have maintained battlefield momentum and superior strength in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Ukraine is betting it can manage the additional strain of the Kursk operation without compromising its position in Donetsk. Conversely, Russia seems confident that it can contain the Ukrainian incursion in Kursk without easing its pressure in Donetsk.
“Both cannot be right,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, on Thursday. “The outcome hangs in the balance.”
Russia’s slow but steady advance across Donetsk this year has come at a high cost in terms of troops and equipment, but its territorial gains have been significant.
Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian defensive stronghold and logistics hub in the Donetsk region, had a prewar population of about 60,000. If captured, it would significantly undermine Ukraine’s defensive capabilities and supply routes, bringing Russia closer than ever to its goal of capturing the Donetsk region.
In recent weeks, the urgency of evacuations in the Donetsk region, particularly around Pokrovsk, has intensified.
On Friday, Pokrovsk officials warned in a Telegram post that Russian forces are “advancing at a fast pace. With each passing day, there is less and less time to gather personal belongings and move to safer regions.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region are “facing the most intense Russian assaults.”
“Priority supplies — everything that is needed — are being sent there,” Zelenskyy stated on X.
On the same day, authorities began advising residents to evacuate the town.
Local officials in Pokrovsk have been meeting with residents to provide logistical details for the evacuation. Evacuees are being offered shelter in western Ukraine, where they will be accommodated in dormitories and separate houses prepared for them.
“As the front line approaches Pokrovsk, the need to move to a safer place is becoming increasingly urgent,” the local administration emphasized.
Meanwhile, in Kursk, Ukrainian forces have taken full control of Sudzha, according to Zelenskyy on Thursday. Sudzha is the largest Russian town to fall to Ukrainian forces since their incursion began 10 days ago, boosting Ukrainian morale while embarrassing the Kremlin.
A family who fled Sudzha recounted on Russian state television how their car windows were shattered during an attack while they were on the road.
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“At the turn, they were shooting; there were mines, and we drove around the mines. Then we were driving further, and the drone hit us in Bondarevka,” said Nikolai Netbayev.
