"Now 500-600 people leave the Pokrovsk community every day - much more than when the frontline was further away. When the contact line was 20 kilometres away, 500 people left per month, said Serhiy Dobryak, head of the Pokrovsk city military administration, on Svoboda Ranok TV programme. In his personal opinion, given the pace of the Russia's advance, people have "a week or two" to leave.
The administration will continue to intensify the evacuation of citizens, he said. Currently, even all the children in the community have not been evacuated: out of 13,700, more than 4,000 remain.
"We have had mandatory evacuations since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, but a week ago we intensified our information work. And people, thank God, left. Families with children left. Before that, when we were in the 20-kilometre zone, about 500 people a month left, and now an average of 500-600 people a day," Dobryak said.
Most people leave by their own transport, but there is a daily evacuation train that can carry more people than there are currently available.
"We can easily evacuate at least a thousand people [per day]," Dobryak said.
Families with children, the elderly and IDPs were urged to leave first.
The head of the CMA urged not to create a rush at the station, but to evacuate as planned while there is still time. People with limited mobility will be assisted with evacuation by train or bus.
Dobryak believes that all services in Pokrovsk will continue to operate for about a week and then will be shut down. He also predicts that children will be rescued by force this week.
- Pokrovsk is the main focus of the Russia’s attack. Every week, the Russians advance and capture new settlements.
- The other day, the Minister for Reintegration of the Occupied Territories urged residents of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove to leave.