Ukraine Urges Civilians to Flee Looming Russian Offensive in Eastern Regions

Ukraine urged civilians to leave the eastern Donetsk, Luhansk and parts of the Kharkiv 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.”