Mandatory Evacuation of Children from Kramatorsk
More than 500 children and young people will be forcibly relocated from areas near the front line in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
More than 500 children and young people will be forcibly relocated from areas near the front line in Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities have declared a mandatory evacuation of children and young people from parts of Kramatorsk and several surrounding settlements. The decision was made due to the deteriorating security situation and the growing threat of Russian attacks on this area, which lies less than 15 kilometers from the front line.
According to the order, the evacuation covers a total of 525 children and young people. From the village of Krasnotorka, 59 minors will be relocated, from Bilenka 140, and from Kramatorsk itself 326. The children come from a total of 424 families and will be evacuated together with their parents or legal guardians.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, announced on Facebook that he had signed the order for the mandatory evacuation of children from the most dangerous parts of the Kramatorsk hromada, the administrative unit that includes the city and surrounding settlements.
"This is a difficult but necessary decision. The security situation is deteriorating, so it is unacceptable to leave children under the constant threat of Russian attacks. I urge parents not to delay their departure and to cooperate with the evacuation teams," Filashkin said.
Despite the constant danger, 83,443 civilians still live in the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk communities. Dmytro Petlin, head of the Operational Duty Department, provided precise figures during an online briefing. "Currently, 46,143 people remain in the Kramatorsk community, and 37,300 in the Sloviansk community," Petlin said.
The area around Sloviansk and Kramatorsk is the last major stronghold that Ukrainian forces hold under their control in the Donetsk region. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, demands the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donetsk Oblast as one of the preconditions for peace negotiations.