Sloviansk reports heavy shelling, Donetsk governor calls for evacuation of civilians |Ukraine latest

A day after Russia claimed control of the Luhansk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine, has urged the evacuation of 350,000 people. Kyrylenko said that this would be a necessary step to save lives and allow Ukrainian forces to prepare defenses in towns ahead of a Russian advance. "The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region," Kyrylenko told reporters and added “Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks.'' The comments from the governor come as Russian forces bombarded the key city of Sloviansk.

Regional authorities in Donetsk said two were killed and seven more were injured during heavy shelling on the Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on Tuesday. Local governor Pavlo Kyrylenko made the announcement on Telegram and said Russian shells had targeted the city's market. AFP journalists in Sloviansk reportedly saw the marketplace hit as firefighters worked to put out the fire while three shells hit nearby streets. "Once again the Russians are intentionally targeting places where civilians assemble," Kyrylenko wrote. In 2014, Sloviansk was briefly controlled by Russian-backed forces before Ukraine could retake the city.

With Russia now expected to turn its attention to the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region following the capture of Lysychansk, foreign and security policy analyst Domitilla Sagramoso told DW that despite these developments, Russia has made limited progress in the rest of the Donetsk Oblast, and pointed to the defensive efforts of Ukrainian forces.

"There have been hardly any advances of Russian forces in the rest of the Donetsk Oblast. So so far they've been really very good at holding any Russian attack. They have very good defensive positions, so one could expect that for some time these regions might not fall." Sagromoso said that Russian forces may feel like they have momentum and are expected to target Sloviansk but she highlighted Ukraine’s ability to launch attacks on Russian targets in hit and run attacks. "It's also important to note how much the Ukrainians are also hitting behind the lines. There have been attacks on ammunition depots, on infrastructure, on airports in the areas of Melitopol, also in Kharkiv Oblast, also in Donetsk Oblast."

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