Pokrovsk’s 53,000 residents were urged to flee to safety. Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region shows Kremlin threats of retaliation are a bluff.
The Ukrainian government issued an evacuation order for the eastern city of Pokrovsk, as the Russian army drew closer and closer to town. Some residents had already fled, but about 53,000 people were still residing there as of Tuesday morning.
Parents with small children and heavy suitcases in their arms could be seen alongside the cities elderly residents, who were helped by volunteers. People of all ages bordered buses and trains out of the city.
Pokrovsk is one of Ukraine’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.
