Evacuation from the five-kilometer border zone has been announced in Sumy region

This was reported by Volodymyr Artiukh, the head of Sumy Regional State Administration.

“The Regional Defense Council of Sumy Oblast has made a decision on the need to prepare and carry out the evacuation of local residents in the populated areas of the region located within the five-kilometer border zone”, the statement said.

As emphasized by the head of Sumy Regional State Administration, while a total of 35 civilians were killed in enemy shelling from January to July 2023, in the past month alone, 17 people, including one child, were killed by Russian forces in the border communities of the region.

“People there are not living, they are surviving under constant shelling, without electricity for weeks or even months. Often, shops, schools, and hospitals do not operate. It is impossible to safely deliver essential food products, medicine, and other necessities. In conditions of constant shelling, it is nearly impossible to restore destroyed infrastructure. The enemy acts cunningly and brazenly, intentionally targeting repair crews. Recently, workers from “Sumyoblenergo” were killed while repairing a damaged power transmission line”, Artiukh emphasized.

He also noted that civilians at the border are not only dying from artillery shelling. There have been audacious killings of Ukrainian forest rangers by Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups, which have been increasingly crossing into Ukrainian territory.

As emphasized by Artiukh, the presence of civilian residents in the five-kilometer zone does not allow Ukrainian military forces to effectively respond to enemy actions and act adequately in response, as it would further endanger civilians. According to him, all plans, evacuation routes, action algorithms, and coordination of all services, primarily local authorities and the military, have been worked out. The evacuation will be carried out with appropriate cover from the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prevent the enemy from having any chance to provoke and endanger our people. It should be noted that within three days in Sumy Oblast, 80 enemy shelling incidents were recorded.

The Russians are using shelling against the civilian population as countermeasures against the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Photo: from open sources