BY: News Peddlers
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that his government has ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents in the eastern Donetsk region, which has been the site of fierce fighting with Russia.
Six civilians were killed and 15 others were injured in Friday attacks, according to the governor of Donetsk, where Moscow is focusing the majority of its offensive.
Zelenskyy also said in a television address late Saturday that the hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the larger Donbas region, which includes Donetsk and the neighboring Luhansk region, needed to leave.
"The more people who leave (the) Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill," he said, adding that those who leave will be compensated.
The authorities were in charge of logistics and support operations "from A to Z," he added.
"We will assist you. We are not the Russian Federation. We will do everything in our power to save as many lives as possible while also limiting Russian terror."
Separately, domestic Ukrainian media outlets quoted Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk as saying that the evacuation was necessary because the region's natural gas supplies had been destroyed.
According to Zelenskyy, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in areas of Donbas where fighting is intense.
"Many refuse to leave, but it must be done," the president stated. "If you have the opportunity, please speak with those who remain in the Donbas combat zones." Please persuade them that leaving is necessary."
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES