Thousands of civilians, including children, are still in the heavily contested area. "The more people leave the region now, the fewer people the Russian army will kill." Local authorities would help with the evacuation, the president promised.
Immediately before the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, Russian head of state Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the two self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.
