Ukraine begins compulsory evacuation of children from Donbas city

KYIV, March 20 (Reuters) – Ukraine has begun the compulsory evacuation of children from the city of Sloviansk, in a sign that the security situation is deteriorating in one of the country’s main remaining strongholds in the Donbas area.

“I signed an order for the compulsory evacuation of children from certain areas of Sloviansk that are most vulnerable to enemy strikes,” Governor Vadym Filashkin wrote on Telegram.

Russian forces have been slowly advancing to the north and east of Sloviansk, and are about 20 km (12 miles) from the edge of the city at various points of the front line of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Sloviansk is one of several towns and cities which remain under Ukrainian control in an urban “fortress belt” in the eastern region of Donetsk, which comprises part of the Donbas. Russia sees control of the entire Donbas, known for its coal mines and heavy industry, as its key military goal.

Ukraine still controls just under a quarter of the Donetsk region, and says the “fortress belt” of settlements can help defend it for years.

However, the danger area in frontline regions has expanded throughout the war, as the swelling volume and range of drones have made places 10 or 20 km away from the front increasingly lethal.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)