Zelenskyy asks hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to evacuate Donetsk

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Fierce fighting is ongoing between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the county in eastern Ukraine, and units from the self-proclaimed breakaway republics are also taking part. The governor of Donetsk says six civilians were killed and fifteen wounded in rocket attacks on Friday.

According to a military analyst at the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the fighting in the area will probably become more intense after the evacuation order.

It is believed that the Russian forces will try to concentrate on attacking the town of Bakhmut in the north of Donetsk in an attempt to push back Ukrainian artillery forces, rather than trying to capture the town of Slavyansk.

Afraid of cold winter

Ukrainian authorities estimate that between 200,000 and 220,000 people still live in the areas of Donetsk Oblast that are not occupied by Russia. Among them are over 50,000 children.

– The government has already taken a decision on mandatory evacuation from the Donetsk region, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in his daily speech on Saturday.

– Please correct yourself accordingly. In this phase of the war, terror is Russia’s main weapon, he says.

The evacuation order states that the coming winter makes it urgent to leave the area, especially for the many children.

– They must be evacuated, you cannot expose them to mortal danger in the winter without heating, light and the possibility to keep them warm, says the message from a ministry in Kyiv.

Prison attack

In the speech, Zelenskyj also asked that the international community, especially the United States, must declare Russia as a country that supports terrorism.

The call comes after a large number of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in an attack on a prison in Olenivka in the separatist-controlled part of Donetsk. The Russian version is that the prison was hit by an American-made long-range missile fired by Ukrainian forces, while Ukraine accuses Russia of having blown up the prison on purpose.

The attack may also have been carried out by the private Russian security company Wagner, writes ISW, which refers to Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR).

GUR accuses the leader of the Wagner Group, which runs an army of mercenaries, of ordering the attack without consulting the Russian Defense Ministry. The motive is said to have been to hide financial embezzlement.

ISW emphasizes that the think tank is unable to assess which party is responsible for the attack.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has stated that 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed and 73 were seriously wounded in the attack.

Wants the Red Cross and the UN for the prison

Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on Saturday that he has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and human rights experts from the United Nations to travel to Olenivka to investigate what happened.

The ICRC itself has requested access to the prison to ensure that the wounded receive medical help and that the dead are treated with respect, but so far there has been no sign that the organization will be allowed in. According to the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross has a mandate to investigate whether prisoners of war are treated in line with international law.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has also stated that it will invite independent investigators from the UN and the Red Cross to investigate the attack, according to the Russian news agency Tass. If experts are to be able to determine what happened, it is important that they get to the scene quickly, but so far no concrete steps have been taken to let them in.

According to the Ukrainian news agency Ukranews, Lubinets has started the process of extraditing the dead Ukrainian soldiers.

– Should leave now

Zelenskyy asks people not to wait to leave Donetsk.

– At some point, a decision must be made to leave. The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will kill, says Zelenskyj. He says the authorities are taking care of evacuation and support operations.

– We want to help you. We are not Russia. We will do everything we can to save as many people as possible and limit Russia’s terror as much as possible, says the Ukrainian president.

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