Expert: Ukraine wants to say ‘be sure to stay away’

The Ukrainian government decided the mandatory evacuation of civilians in the Donetsk region.

– On the part of the Ukrainian leadership, they want to re-emphasize the importance of leaving and not standing in the way of the fight so that they are not in danger of being injured or killed, says Joachim Pacekevi.

“We are not Russia,” Zelensky said in his address to the nation on Saturday night. He also said that every life counts and that Ukraine will do everything in its power to protect civilians from “Russian terrorism”.

It was an explicit part of the Russian strategy to populate cities on the ground, says Oscar Johnson, a researcher in military sciences at the Norwegian Defense Academy, and continues:

– But the infrastructure, that is, water and electricity, has also been damaged to such an extent that it is not possible to live in it.

According to Ukrainian It is estimated that between 200,000 and 220,000 civilians remain in the Donetsk region, of whom 50,000 are children.

Joakim Paasikivi points out that similar calls came from the Ukrainian government also regarding Kherson and Zaporizhzhya, and that the government’s decision is not a sign that Ukraine has given up fighting in Donetsk.

– In recent months, the Russians have achieved small tactical successes. Otherwise it swings back and forth with the villages being fought over. He says Russia is taking one village and Ukraine liberating another.

– But there are no indications of any major penetration or any major Russian attack causing this. But Ukraine alone says “be careful away”, the Russians are still firing artillery.

He asserts that the battles took place to a large extent on the roads and in the villages.

– So it is important that no Ukrainian civilians remain. But there, anyway, and then suffer greatly.

And the civilian Ukrainians who choose Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshtyuk announced that, not to leave the Donetsk region, she will have to sign an official refusal of the mandatory eviction.

The site acknowledges that it understands the risks of staying in the area and becomes personally responsible for its own life.

This procedure is unusual. I’ve never seen examples of this before, says Oscar Johnson.

According to Pasikivi, most of those who had the opportunity left.

Those who remain are those who cannot make a future for themselves elsewhere. Then there is a small minority left waiting for the Russians, he says.

Oscar Johnson on the same line.

The fact that people don’t want to leave home and home, I think, is a bigger part of the decision than military conflicts.