Ukraine Urges Civilians to Flee Looming Russian Offensive in Eastern Regions – WSJ

Ukraine urged civilians to leave the eastern Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions as it braced for a major new Russian offensive following Moscow s withdrawal from the north of the country.

You need to evacuate now, while this possibility still exists, Ukraine s deputy prime minister and minister for occupied territories, Iryna Vereshchuk, said on Ukrainian TV on Wednesday. Later, people will be under fire and under threat of death. We won t be able to help because it will be practically impossible to cease fire.

The sense of urgency by the Ukrainian government for civilians to flee comes days after reports emerged of executions, rape and other human rights abuses of civilians by departing Russian forces as they retreated from the suburbs of Kyiv. Russia has denied the reports and said they were staged by Ukrainian troops.

Following heavy losses, Russia pulled its troops from the vicinity of Kyiv and from the northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions last week, in a strategy shift that the Kremlin says will allow it to focus on seizing the parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, collectively known as Donbas, that remain under Ukrainian control.

via www.wsj.com