(Reuters) – Ukrainian authorities ordered the evacuation of a key city and three other localities in northeastern Kharkiv region on Tuesday as Russian forces press closer and officials face difficulties in providing services through the winter.
The order applied to Kupiansk, a rail hub lying astride the Oskil River, as well as the town of Borova, further south, near the city of Izium, another major logistics centre.
Kupiansk fell to Russian forces in the weeks after their February 2022 invasion, but was retaken by Ukrainian troops later that year.
Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov, speaking on national television, said the evacuation order was mandatory.
“The most difficult situation is in the Kupiansk sector. On the east bank of the Oskil River, which divides the city, we can no longer guarantee the restoration of electricity, heat and water supply due to constant shelling,” he said.
“All repair crews immediately come under Russian fire.”
Russian forces have been making increasing headway in their drive to occupy Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, capturing villages as they move westward. They have also been active for months further north in Kharkiv region, focusing on Kupiansk.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, to the west of Kupiansk, has come under repeated missile and drone attack throughout most of the more than 2 1/2-year-old war.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff reported 19 battles had taken place near Kupiansk over the past 24 hours, with seven still raging.
Syniehubov said evacuation centres had been set up in Kharkiv – 4,000 residents remained in danger on the east bank of the Oskil and a further 3,000 on the west bank.
To the north, Ukrainian troops in August staged a cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, seizing swathes of land.
Russia’s military says it has clawed back several villages, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who said the operation was to draw Russian forces away from the eastern front, maintains that Kyiv’s troops are holding their positions.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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