Donetsk residents flee Kyiv military operations
Residents in Ukraine’s volatile Donetsk region continue to flee for their lives as Kyiv carries on with its military operations against pro-Russia forces.
Several buses packed with Ukrainian civilians left on Wednesday the eastern region of Donetsk for Russia’s Rostov region.
According to a local refugee committee, about 500 people embarked on the journey from eastern Ukraine, as government forces continue to fight against pro-Russians in the Donetsk region.
In addition, five busloads of people had left the strife-torn region for Russia’s border a day earlier.
Residents fighting for pro-Russia forces said they were sending their families to Russia so they can be safe and sound, as they are determined to continue to battle against the Ukrainian forces.
According to Russia’s Federal Migration Service chief, Konstantin Romodanovsky, more than 30,000 Ukrainians have applied for official refugee status in the Russian Federation.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has vowed to continue military operations in the country’s eastern regions. A similar pledge has been made by the security chief of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, who has promised to fight the Ukrainian army until “the very end.”
Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking parts in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army since mid-April.
Violence intensified in May after Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk held local referendums, in which their residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Ukraine.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the ongoing military campaign in Ukraine, which has also forced tens of thousands to escape to Russia, with the majority arriving in the Russian Rostov region.
CAH/AB/SS