Ukraine’s Zelenskyy announces evacuation of Donetsk region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his government was ordering the mandatory evacuation of people in the eastern Donetsk region, scene of fierce fighting with Russia.

The governor of Donetsk, where Moscow is focusing the brunt of its offensive, said six civilians were killed and 15 others wounded in attacks on Friday.

 In a television address late on Saturday, Zelenskyy also said the hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the larger Donbas region, which contains Donetsk as well as the neighboring Luhansk region, needed to leave.

“The more people leave (the) Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” he said, adding that residents who left would be given compensation.

Logistics and support operations were being handled by the authorities “from A to Z”, he added.