Catastrophic situation in Izyum, residents want to leave en masse, says city council deputy
The local deputy spoke about the catastrophic situation in Izyum (Photo:Ministry of Defense)
A catastrophic situation is developing in the captured city of Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast, where about 10,000 residents want to leave to territory controlled by Ukraine, a deputy from Izyum city council, Maksym Strelnyk, said on Ukrainian national television on Aug 11.
“According to our data, about 10,000 citizens are awaiting evacuation, because the winter season is already approaching, and the situation with heat supplies is catastrophic,” Strelnyk said.
He said it was very difficult to leave Izyum for Ukrainian controlled territory, but it is still possible thanks to the joint efforts of volunteers, the Ukrainian government, and representatives of international organizations. However, so far only a few have succeeded.
Strelnyk said the situation in Izyum was difficult. Russian invasion forces are carrying out provocations and firing at residential buildings, trying to blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the attacks, he said.
The deputy said that Ukrainian troops are now counterattacking the invading forces and liberating some settlements in Izyum District, while the Russian troops "out of desperation are trying to unleash all their aggression on the local population."
Izyum has been under occupation since April 2. Earlier, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that during the period of the full-scale invasion, Russian invading forces had inflicted their largest rocket attacks specifically on the city of Izyum.
As of 2018, about 50,000 people lived in Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast.
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