Hundreds of residents have fled the eastern Donetsk region via evacuation trains from Pavlohrad to Kropyvnytskyi and Lviv, amid the escalating conflict as Russian forces advance in the area.
At least one person has been killed in Russian shelling on an apartment building in the eastern city of Kostiantynivka.
Local authorities say the city came under fire from cannon artillery and a 43-year-old woman was killed.
“Our windows were blown out, and this is it, the walls inside the apartment were smashed by the debris. We had three hits. The first time was upstairs, the second time a woman was killed, this is the third time,” said local resident Oleksandr.
Hundreds of residents have fled the eastern Donetsk region via evacuation trains from Pavlohrad to Kropyvnytskyi and Lviv, amid the escalating conflict as Russian forces advance in the area.
The majority of evacuees are from the Pokrovsk district, where fighting has intensified.
Local authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders, particularly urging families with children to leave. Despite the orders, some have been reluctant to abandon their homes.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ukrainian authorities have assessed that about 83,000 have been forcibly displaced in the Donetsk region since 1 August due to the intensified fighting in the area.
Pokrovsk has been a key target for Moscow for months. In August, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region to divert Russian troops from the eastern Ukrainian city.
Meanwhile, the southern oblast of Odesa was subject to overnight strikes by Russian forces, reportedly using Shahed-type attack drones.
At least 20 houses, a gas station operator’s building, outbuildings and cars were damaged as a result of falling debris.
“We were not at home at the time. We arrived, the police and ambulance were already here, there was a fire, the neighbours were putting it out. And it turned out that it was lucky that we were not here,” said Iryna Unhurianu whose house was damaged in the shelling.
“As the Ministry of Emergency Situations said, if the building had exploded, it would have torn us all apart and we would not have been alive.”
A 74-year-old man was lightly injured and there were no reports of any casualties.
Ukrainian air defence forces say they shot down 16 Russian drones over the region.
