War against Ukraine: Ukraine wants to evacuate area around Donetsk

Hundreds of thousands of people are said to be leaving the contested areas around the city of Donetsk and the rest of Donbass. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy promised that local authorities would help with the evacuation.

In view of the massive attacks by the Russian army in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on people to leave the Donetsk region. “In the Donbass there are hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of children, many refuse to leave,” said Zelenskyy in his evening video address.

He urged residents of Donbass to make this decision. “Please follow the evacuation.” The more people leave Donetsk region, the fewer people the Russian army can kill, he said in a pleading tone.

Mandatory evacuation

Previously, the Ukrainian government had ordered a mandatory evacuation on the grounds that the citizens had to get to safety in good time before the start of the heating season, as the gas pipelines had been destroyed by the war in the Donetsk region.

Zelenskyj now emphasized that everything is being organized for people to flee from the areas of the region still controlled by Ukraine. The President complained that many citizens are still not insightful. He promised that the local authorities would help with the evacuation.

“Terror one of the main weapons”

“At this stage of the war, terror is one of Russia’s main weapons.” Zelenskyy once again described Russia as a “terrorist state” and called on the international community to isolate the country. If Russia were classified as a “terror state” by the US, all partners would cut ties with the country.

Immediately before the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, Russian head of state Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the two self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.