Ukrainian volunteers helped move those who could not move themselves
on Thursday ahead of advancing Russian forces in the Eastern
Donetsk region. Maria Moga is 94 years old.
Her relative, Liudmila Renko helps her pack her things
. It's not the first time they've been forced to
flee. Everyone is in panic. People are running
away. I went outside and I was shocked people
with cardboard boxes there. Mass evacuation. I don't
know, we don't want to leave but we have
to, we thought we could stay here. I
don't know. It's very difficult. I am sending
her. I have no idea what to say.
We came here from Bak starting from August 20 Donetsk
. Regional authorities ordered mandatory evacuation of families with Children
here in Pokrovsky and nearby towns. The Russian military
has been steadily grinding forward in Donetsk, one of
four Ukrainian regions, Moscow claims it has annexed but
Russia does not yet fully control the territory. Ukraine's
losses in the east come as it presses its incursion
into Russia's Kirk region maintaining for now its surprise gains
. Kiev says it plans to carve out a buffer
zone to better defend itself. Video released on Thursday
showed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, meeting his top commander
near the border where he announced the capture of another
Russian village. Ukraine's air force on Wednesday shared this
footage of what it said were strikes on Kursk.
The Ukraine's surprise operation using Western military hardware boosted Kiev's
morale two years after Russia's unprovoked invasion. But Kiev's
attack on Kursk hasn't relieved pressure on Donetsk. Roman
Koltsovo is a Ukrainian volunteer with the charity group East
. So he told Reuters the situation in Borovsk and
nearby towns deteriorated because the Russian army is advancing and
very close to the city. Authorities did not inform
locals properly. Therefore, locals are reluctant to leave
. We evacuate people with reduced mobility patients from the
hospitals, those who call the hotline. Ukraine's military
said there were 46 Russian attacks on the Pokrovsky front
over the course of Wednesday.