KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine announced on Thursday it was ordering the evacuation of children and their guardians from towns and villages in and around the frontline city of Kramatorsk, citing an uptick in Russian drone attacks.

 

Kramatorsk, which had a pre-war population of around 147,000 people, lies approximately 20 kilometres from the front line in the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has concentrated its firepower since invading Ukraine in February 2022.

 

The Kremlin in September of that year claimed to have annexed the industrial region alongside three others -- despite not having full military control over them.

 

"Due to the deterioration of the security situation in certain areas of the Kramatorsk city community, the mandatory evacuation of families with children has been announced," the city council said on social media.

 

"Residents of these settlements, especially families with children who, unfortunately, still remain there, must immediately leave the area accompanied by representatives of the evacuation services," it added.

 

Several parts of Kramatorsk city, which bears the scars of years of war, fall within the evacuation orders.

 

The authorities said that Russian forces had stepped up attacks with small, cheap first-person-view drones that have dramatically changed the character of fighting across the sprawling front line over recent months.

 

Kramatorsk is the largest civilian hub and garrison city in the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control. It was briefly seized by Kremlin-backed separatists in 2014.