Ukraine on Friday urged the approximately 6,000 civilians still in Bakhmut, according to Kiev authorities, to “immediately” leave the city, the target of attacks by Russian forces.
“The city must be evacuated immediately” because the “enemy artillery [russa] attacks residential areas,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said via social media.
According to Vereshchuk, five civilians died and nine were injured in the aftermath of the attacks. The deputy prime minister said he was surprised that 6,000 citizens still live in the city.
Faced with the “seriousness” of the situation, Iryna Vereshchuk, who also serves as Minister for the Reintegration of the Occupied Territories, is urging the population to leave the city, as they are in danger and because they are “doing the work of those trying to help”.
The number of citizens and the actual situation in the city have yet to be confirmed by independent sources.
Bakhmut (Artemivsk or Artyomovsk between 1924 and 2016) is located in the Donetsk region and is strategic for supply routes to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk areas, the largest cities in the region controlled by Kiev.
Source: DN
