Ukraine reportedly evacuated 7,000 people from frontline areas of Donetsk region in one day

Ukrainian authorities carried out a large-scale evacuation from frontline areas of the Donetsk region late last week, Novaya Gazeta Europe reports, citing a source who attended a regional government meeting. Around 7,000 people were evacuated on August 14 alone.

Mandatory evacuations from settlements near the front lines were first announced years ago, but in recent months only a few hundred residents have typically been relocated each day, the newspaper notes.

On August 14, Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin ordered families with children to evacuate from Druzhkivka and the villages of Andriivka, Novoandriivka, Varvarivka, and Rohanske. That same day, the commuter train from Druzhkivka to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk was suspended. Evacuations had also recently been ordered in Dobropillia and nearby villages.

Also on August 14, the last state postal branches in Kostyantynivka closed, and the final grocery store in Pokrovsk shut its doors, according to Novaya Gazeta Europe.

Kramatorsk and Sloviansk remain relatively quiet rear areas for now, but both are increasingly targeted by Russian missiles and drones, and Kramatorsk is preparing defenses, the outlet says.

On August 15, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska for talks on the war in Ukraine. According to subsequent media reports, Putin demanded that Ukraine cede the Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Russia and recognize Crimea as Russian territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that Kyiv has no intention of “giving away” its territories to Russia.