Today, Friday, Russia ordered the evacuation of families with children and the elderly from areas near the front lines that Russia controls in southern Ukraine due to increased shelling from the Ukrainian side.
“In recent days, the enemy has intensified the bombardment of 18 settlements near the front line,” Yevhen Paletsky, a local official in the Zaporozhye region, who was appointed from Russia, wrote on social networks.
He added: “In this regard, it was decided to withdraw from enemy fire and transfer to the region, first of all, children with their families, in addition to the elderly, the disabled and sick hospitals,” stressing that the evacuation from them would be “temporary.”
Among the affected areas is the city of Energodar, home to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which has been under the control of the Russian army since March 2022 and has been repeatedly bombed.
Last fall, Russian authorities announced similar evacuations in the Kherson region ahead of an offensive that allowed the Ukrainian army to recapture the Russian-held regional center.
