Ukrainian civilians told to evacuate eastern town as Russian troops close in on key target

Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk on Friday urged civilians to speed up their evacuation because the Russian army is quickly closing in on what has for months been one of Moscow's key targets in the war.

The call for people to get out as soon as possible came as Kyiv's forces are trying to divert the Kremlin's military focus to Russian soil by launching a bold incursion across the border into the Kursk region.

The urgency also underscored the high-stakes gamble Ukraine is making by taking the war into Russia with its ongoing assault that started Aug. 6. The attack was a daring attempt to change the dynamics of the 2½-year conflict, but it could leave Ukraine's shorthanded defence at the mercy of Russia's push.

The Kremlin's forces have had battlefield momentum and superior forces in Eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region since the spring.

Strategists have noted Ukraine is wagering it can cope with the strain on its resources in Kursk without sacrificing Donetsk, while Russia apparently reckons it can contain the incursion without needing to ease up in Donetsk.

"Both cannot be right," said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, on Thursday. "The outcome hangs in the balance."

Russia's slow slog across Donetsk this year has been costly in terms of troops and armour, but its gains have mounted up.

Pokrovsk, which had a pre-war population of about 60,000, is one of Ukraine's main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region. Its capture would compromise Ukraine's defensive abilities and supply routes. It would bring Russia closer to its stated aim of capturing the Donetsk region than ever before.

Evacuations in the Donetsk region around Pokrovsk have become increasingly urgent in recent weeks.

Pokrovsk officials said in a Telegram post Friday that Russian troops are "advancing at a fast pace. With every passing day, there is less and less time to collect personal belongings and leave for safer regions."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region were "facing the most intense Russian assaults."

"Priority supplies — everything that is needed — are being sent there," Zelenskyy said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

That same day, authorities told people to start evacuating the town.

Pokrovsk officials were meeting with the residents to provide them with logistical details on the evacuation. People were offered shelter in western Ukraine, where they will be hosted in dormitories and separate houses prepared for them.