Evacuation trains have been canceled, and a strict curfew is in place.
The situation around Pokrovsk has become increasingly tense. Due to the escalation along the frontline, authorities have canceled evacuation trains from Pokrovsk. Thousands of people, including children, remain in the city. Meanwhile, Russian dictator Putin has resurfaced with statements about "liberating Donbas," which seemingly translates into destroying normal life there.
Here is an exclusive review by Viktoriya Hnatiuk of the situation in Pokrovsk, Putin’s new claims and Zelenskyy’s response.
Current situation in Pokrovsk
Residents of Pokrovsk were reluctant to leave their hometown, but evacuation became inevitable as fighting intensified. For several weeks, an active evacuation effort has been underway. As of September 4, 26,000 people, including over 1,000 children, remained in the city. According to Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Vadym Filashkin, over 20,000 people have been evacuated in the past month.
The police are patrolling the city in an intensified mode. Law enforcement officers use loudspeakers to convince residents to evacuate and additionally go around every family where there are children.
Due to the advancing frontlines, Russian strikes on the city have increased. In addition to bombs and missiles, enemy artillery now also targets the area.
A prolonged curfew is in place, with residents allowed to move about the city only between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. However, those evacuating or using personal vehicles to transport belongings are allowed to travel outside these hours.
Evacuation efforts
As the frontline rapidly approaches Pokrovsk, which had been a rear-area city for the first two years of the full-scale war, evacuation efforts have intensified. On September 5, vacuation trains from Pokrovsk were canceled due to the worsening situation. Civilians are now directed to evacuate from Pavlohrad in Dnipropetrovsk region.
"Due to the worsening of the security situation, boarding of evacuation trains from the Pokrovsk station in Donetsk region has been cancelled. Starting from September 5, 2024, Pavlohrad station (Dnipropetrovsk region) has been determined as the initial departure station for evacuation trains that evacuate the civilian population of Donetsk region," the Myrnohrad City Military Administration reported.
Head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin, called on local authorities to develop logistical routes for evacuation buses.
Local authorities have been tasked with developing logistical routes for evacuation buses to minimize difficulties for residents wishing to leave. The evacuation of civilians from Donetsk region continues. And I once again urge everyone to take advantage of this opportunity," he said in his address.
The enemy does not stop the onslaught
Meanwhile, the General Staff reported that as of the morning of September 5, Russian forces had launched 52 assaults in the Pokrovsk direction.
"In the Pokrovsk direction, Ukrainian defenders repelled 52 assaults and attacks in the areas of Vozdvyzhenka, Zelene Pole, Novohrodivka, Hrodivka, Selydove, Mykolaivka and Myrolyubivka, where the invaders, with the support of aviation, tried to dislodge our units from the occupied lines," the summary says.
The editor-in-chief of Censor.NET, Yuriy Butusov warns that Russian forces are now just 8 kilometers from Pokrovsk and 3.5 kilometers from the nearby town of Myrnohrad, stressing the urgency of efforts to slow the Russian advance.
"Unfortunately, the enemy continues to advance. And these offensive actions of Russian troops continue for a long time. The creeping Russian offensive has been going on for four months now, and the enemy has already crawled more than 20 kilometers. That is why the front has already approached Pokrovsk. Now the enemy is at a distance of eight kilometers from the city of Pokrovsk and at a distance of 3.5 kilometers from the city of Myrnohrad, which is actually part of the single Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad agglomeration," he said.
Putin’s new statements
As Ukrainians continue to suffer under Russia’s "liberation," Putin persists in his rhetoric about freeing Donbas. At a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 5, the Russian leader claimed that Ukrainian operations in Kursk region were an attempt to distract Russia from its offensive in Donbas, which he called a priority. At the same time, he announced the successes of the Russian army, and noted that most important thing for the Russian army is peaceful citizens.
He reiterated his readiness for negotiations, but predictably on his terms, even naming “trusted” intermediaries.
Putin blamed the full-scale war on Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution. At that time, when Ukrainians expressed a desire to move toward Europe rather than Russia, Putin couldn't forgive that not everyone was willing to live in Russian poverty and under a complete dictatorship.
In addition, Putin called the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Russian territory "very dangerous terrorist acts" and threatened a reciprocal response.
The Kremlin's master ended his ramblings with the claim that Ukraine is being governed by... "aliens."
What Zelenskyy says
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during an interview with NBC News, stated that the Kursk operation does not mean that we will exchange one territory for another. He explained that its execution is driven by the need to create a "buffer" zone to secure the territories of Ukraine's Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
Zelenskyy also mentioned that he intended to present a "victory plan" to U.S. President Biden only after achieving successes in Kursk region.
Additionally, Zelenskyy stated that "Putin doesn't care what happens with Kursk region and Donbas. For him, the main thing is to continue the war."
And indeed, it seems that for Putin, the only priority is to cause more suffering, even if it is beginning to affect his own people. He simply turns a blind eye to it.
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