Ukrainian authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations of nearly 12,000 civilians in the eastern Kharkiv region amid reports of relentless Russian shelling.
The local military administration in Kupiansk district on Thursday said residents must comply with the evacuation order or sign a document saying they would stay at their own risk.
It comes after Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said that “the intensity of combat and enemy shelling is high” in the area.
The city of Kupiansk and the surrounding area were under Russian occupation until September 2022, when Ukrainian forces conducted a successful counteroffensive.
Ms Maliar said Russia was “attempting to move forward” in the area in an effort to advance on Kupiansk, an important rail junction.
Russia has concentrated assault troops supported by tank units, aviation and artillery in the Kupiansk area, Ukraine National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk said.
Ukraine separately accused Russia of attacking a “civilian infrastructure object” in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.
Anatoliy Kurtev, Zaporizhzhia city council’s secretary, wrote on Telegram that a fire broke out at the site of the attack and two people were injured but did not give more details.
Earlier on Thursday, Russian air defence systems shot down two drones heading toward Moscow for a second straight day, Russian officials said.
The alleged attack disrupted flights at two international airports.
One drone was downed in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow and another near a major Moscow ring road, according to Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
No casualties or damage were immediately reported.
Kyiv officials neither confirmed nor denied Ukraine’s possible involvement in the drone strikes, though Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat remarked: “This cannot but please us because people in Moscow thought they were safe. Now, the war affects each and every Russian.”
“We now see that ‘something’ happens in Moscow on a regular basis,” he added.
