“The sooner it happens, the more people leave the Donetsk region now, the less people the Russian army will have to kill,” he said. Zelensky urged Ukrainians who have the opportunity to speak with “those still remaining in the battle zones in Donbas” to convince their compatriots that it is necessary to leave, “especially if they are families with children.” The Ukrainian president stressed that “hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of children” remain in the Donbas region at the moment. Earlier in the week, Ukrainian forces said they had managed to repel Russian attempts to invade several areas in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian forces reported heavy shelling across most of the eastern front, but no advance by Russian forces.
“52,000 children in the Donetsk region”
Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, told Ukrainian media early Saturday that there is no gas supply in the Donetsk region at the moment and “there will be no heating in the Donetsk region in winter.” The Ukrainian government has set up a coordination center to help evacuate residents of the Donetsk region to safer parts of Ukraine, Vereschuk said. The evacuation will be carried out by trains and buses, he added. Vereshchuk said there are “52,000 children in the Donetsk region” right now. People who refuse to evacuate should sign “a certain form of refusal of mandatory evacuation” stating that they understand and know all the consequences of staying in combat zones and bear personal responsibility for their lives, Vereschuk added.
