In the Donetsk region, the zone of mandatory evacuation of children in Kramatorsk has been expanded. According to the news agency Ukrinform, citing the head of the regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, the decision affects 130 streets and other facilities in the city. Filashkin announced the order on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.
The evacuation takes place accompanied by parents, persons who replace them, or legal representatives, the statement says. Local military administrations, the police, rescue services and the child protection service are involved. According to Filashkin, people are accompanied at all stages – from leaving the city to the reception point and further accommodation in safer regions. All decisions are made with one goal: to prevent any further casualties among children.
The head of the military administration stressed that the security situation is deteriorating. Waiting until the danger reaches the house directly is too great a risk, especially when it comes to children. He called on parents not to postpone departure.
How dangerous is the situation in Kramatorsk?
According to Ukrinform, the Russian army shelled settlements in the Donetsk region 17 times in the past 24 hours. According to the report, 272 people were evacuated from the front line, including 38 children.
The city of Kramatorsk and the surrounding settlements have been under fire for months. Back in August, mandatory evacuation of children had already been ordered in parts of the Kramatorsk community. At that time, according to the head of the Donetsk military administration, Vadym Filashkin, it concerned 525 children from 424 families, as the news outlet zn.ua reported. Specifically, 59 children from 46 families in the settlement of Krasnotorka, 140 children from 104 families in the settlement of Bilenke and 326 children from 274 families in Kramatorsk itself were to be evacuated. In the city, this affected minors in the most dangerous districts. Filashkin called the decision at the time “difficult but necessary” and pointed to the deteriorating security situation.
Back in March 2026, Filashkin had ordered the forced evacuation of children in parts of the neighbouring Sloviansk district, as nordbayern.de reported. The trigger at the time was a Russian drone attack on a vehicle during an attempt to evacuate from the settlement of Oleksiyevo-Druzhkivka in the Kramatorsk district, in which, according to the prosecutor’s office, at least two civilians were killed and two other occupants injured. The authority opened an investigation into an alleged war crime. At that time, the front line was only about ten kilometres from the village.
The Donetsk region has been heavily contested since the start of the Russian war of aggression. Moscow claims the mining and industrial area. According to nordbayern.de from March 2026, the region was then still just under 20 per cent under Ukrainian control.
Editor’s note: The evacuation orders are a response to the ongoing attacks. The information on the affected streets and the number of people recently evacuated comes from the Ukrainian authorities; it cannot be independently verified.
