Korean President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered the mandatory evacuation of areas in the Donetsk region not controlled by Russia in an address to the nation. In a late-night televised address, Mr Zelensky said the hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones in the wider Donbas region, which includes Donetsk as well as the neighboring Luhansk region, must leave. “The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have to kill,” he said, adding that residents who fled would receive compensation. Zelensky said hundreds of thousands of people still live in areas of Donbas where fighting has been fierce. “Many refuse to leave, but it still has to be done,” the president said. “If you have the chance, please talk to those who still remain in the battle zones in Donbass. Please convince them that it is necessary to leave.”

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Separately, domestic Ukrainian media quoted Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk as saying the evacuation had to take place before winter sets in, as the region’s natural gas reserves had been depleted. It comes as Britain’s defense chiefs warned that Russia had fired at least 20 missiles into northern Ukraine from Belarusian territory on July 28. In the latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) added: “Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko continues to toe Moscow’s line on the Ukraine conflict, saying on July 21 that Ukraine must accept Russia’s demands to end the war. “His regime became increasingly authoritarian, with the extension of the death penalty for ‘preparation of terrorist acts.’ His increasing and baseless accusations of Western designs in Belarus and Ukraine likely indicate that he has become almost completely dependent on Russia.” It is not the first time that the Ukrainian authorities have called on citizens to evacuate the areas they control in Donetsk. John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine, said this could be due to expectations of tougher fighting rather than fuel shortages. “I don’t know why Zelensky made the call,” he said. “What I know is that there has been heavy fighting in Donetsk. The Russians captured (neighboring) Luhansk (region) several weeks ago. I expect further heavy fighting in Donetsk.” It comes after Ukraine accused Russia of committing a war crime after more than 50 prisoners of war were killed in a bomb blast. The captured soldiers were killed when their prison camp in Olenivka, controlled by the Moscow-backed separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, was destroyed on Friday. The camp was located near the front line and Russia claims it was hit by a US Ukrainian missile. But Kyiv called it a “deliberate Russian war crime” and called for the UN and Red Cross to be allowed to investigate.