Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister: "Russia Preparing to Seize Donbas... Immediate Evacuation Needed"

Irina Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine [Photo by TASS Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] On the 6th (local time), Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged the immediate evacuation of residents in Luhansk (Lugansk), Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions, which are part of Donbas, via Telegram. This comes amid expectations that Russian forces will soon launch a large-scale offensive in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

According to AFP and other sources, Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk warned, "You must evacuate immediately. Otherwise, you will face the threat of death engulfed in shelling, and at that point, we will have no way to help."

Earlier, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk Oblast, also urged evacuation as soon as possible, stating that Russia is preparing a new offensive on the Donbas region, including Luhansk, after reorganizing its troops. He indicated that although Russian forces have not yet completely broken through the Ukrainian defensive lines, they are destroying everything along their advance routes, signaling an imminent large-scale offensive.

Russian forces are reportedly gradually expanding their occupied areas by heavily shelling some outskirts of Luhansk. Ukrainian authorities report that about 60% of the northwestern city of Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast is under Russian control.

Meanwhile, AFP reported that four civilians were killed and four injured in a Russian airstrike in Donetsk on the same day. Ukrainian authorities claim that the targeted area was near a location providing humanitarian aid to residents.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of Donetsk, condemned, "This morning, Russian forces indiscriminately attacked civilians who came to receive humanitarian aid."

Earlier, Russia announced on the 25th of last month that it would focus on the complete liberation of the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, and signs of troop withdrawal were detected mainly in the northern areas. The general view is that Russia revised its strategy to focus on occupying Donbas after its advance stalled in key areas such as the capital Kyiv due to strong resistance from Ukrainian forces.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also stated at a press conference the day before that Russia will focus on fully controlling the Donbas region in the coming weeks. NATO foreign ministers will hold a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on the 6th and 7th to discuss additional arms support for Ukraine and other matters.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.