Russian attacks east Ukraine, says it had taken another village taken

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian bombardments on the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk killed six people on Wednesday, the governor of the region said, as Moscow announced it had taken another village in the area.

The industrial region has suffered the worst fighting. The Kremlin claimed to have annexed it alongside three other territories in 2022. 

"In the morning the Russians killed four people and destroyed a house in Izmailivka," the regional official Vadym Filashkin said on social media. 

He added that two more people were killed in separate attacks near Chasiv Yar that damaged more than a dozen homes.

Russia's defence ministry announced on Wednesday that Russian forces had taken another settlement, some 20 kilometres from the logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

Regional authorities have recently ordered large-scale mandatory evacuations with Russian forces advancing towards Pokrovsk, once home to around 60,000 people.

Filashkin said that 2,718 people, including 392 children, had been evacuated from frontline areas on Tuesday.

He later said on state media that some 30,000 people remained in Pokrovsk and surrounding villages and that banks would shutter in the town by Sunday.

"This also applies to all other institutions that provide services to the public. So if people evacuate as soon as possible and save their lives, everything will be fine," he said.

An employee of a government services centre in Pokrovsk told AFP by phone that it was unclear whether the facility would remain open, as Russian forces approach.

"I can't tell you what will happen in the future -- in a day, in two days, next week," the employee said.

"Everything in our city is closing. Everything. No shops will be open. Nothing. Most of them are closing."

Kyiv urged residents of the region, which has been partially controlled by Russian proxy forces since 2014, to evacuate after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine.