Ukrainian authorities have ordered the evacuation of thousands of children and their parents from frontline settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, as Russian forces continue to advance in parts of southern and eastern Ukraine.
The decision was announced on Friday by Ukraine’s Restoration Minister, Oleksiy Kuleba, who said the move was prompted by a worsening security situation in areas close to the front line. Writing on Telegram, Kuleba disclosed that more than 3,000 children and their parents would be forcibly evacuated from 44 settlements considered to be at high risk.
“Due to the difficult security situation, a decision was made to forcibly evacuate more than 3,000 children and their parents from 44 frontline settlements in the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions,” the minister said.
The evacuations come amid intensified fighting as Moscow’s troops continue their slow but persistent push through parts of the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region. While Russian advances in southern Zaporizhzhia have historically been more limited than in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials say military pressure in the area has increased in recent months.
Kuleba also revealed that evacuations were ongoing in the northern Chernihiv region, which borders Belarus, a close ally of Moscow. Chernihiv has been repeatedly targeted by Russian shelling, raising concerns about the safety of civilians, particularly children and vulnerable groups.
According to official figures, the scale of displacement from frontline areas has grown significantly since the start of summer. “In total, 150,000 people have been evacuated from frontline areas to safer regions since June 1,” Kuleba said. “Among them are nearly 18,000 children and more than 5,000 people with limited mobility.”
Ukraine has increasingly resorted to compulsory evacuations in areas facing sustained bombardment or ground assaults, arguing that the measure is necessary to protect civilians from harm. While some residents have been reluctant to leave their homes, authorities insist that the risks posed by ongoing fighting leave them with little alternative.
Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has in recent months claimed to have captured additional settlements in both the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. In September 2022, Moscow declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions — Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson — despite not having full military control over all of them.
Kyiv and its Western allies have rejected those claims as illegal and illegitimate. As fighting continues along multiple fronts, humanitarian concerns remain acute, with children and other vulnerable populations increasingly bearing the brunt of the conflict.
