The mandatory evacuation of families with children has been announced in the Pokrovsk community, Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration Vadym Filashkin said.

"More than 53,000 people, including almost 4,000 children, still live here. But recently the front has come too close to the Pokrovsk district and this should be addressed properly. Therefore, at an extraordinary meeting of the regional commission dealing with manmade and environmental emergencies, a decision was made on the mandatory evacuation of children with their parents or persons replacing them, or other legal representatives from the towns of Pokrovsk and Rodynske, the villages of Hnativka, Dachenske, Zhovte, Zelene, Lysivka, Novopavlivka, Novoukrainka, Pushkine, Rih, Sukhy Yar, Troyanda and Chunyshyn," he said on the Telegram channel.

The official also emphasized that "children's safety is the responsibility of adults."

"When our cities find themselves within range of virtually any enemy weapon, the decision to evacuate is necessary and inevitable," he said.