More than 250,000 people acted on an order to abandon their homes in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces rained down artillery fire on the region ahead of a predicted major new offensive in the area. The order was made by Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gadai as air-raid sirens were sounded in the embattled city, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Despite his order, Mr Gadia believes as many as 120,000 of the 400,000 residents stayed behind. He warned: "They (Russia) are amassing forces for an offensive and we see the number of shellings has increased."
UK Intelligence has stated that the south-east of Ukraine is now being targeted with the Russians' focus centred on Mariupol, Donbas and Mykolaiv. The UK Ministry of Defence said that the attacks were "supported by continued cruise missile launches into Ukraine by Russian naval forces".
