Ukraine began mass evacuations along the border

Ukraine Evacuates Citizens Near Russian Border Putin announced countermeasures after recent attacks in Ukraine. More information on the news blog.

1.20 am: Ukrainian authorities have begun mass evacuations of communities in the northern Sumy region near the Russian border. Local authorities announced this on Friday evening. As the military administration of the Sumy region explained via the messaging app Telegram, more than 180 residents of the border municipality of Velikopizarska were brought to safety in the last three days alone.

According to officials, the area has been under daily fire for a long time and now the attacks have intensified. A total of 22 villages in Sumi region have already been evacuated, affecting more than 4,500 residents. However, the administration did not specify the time frame for the evacuation.

8:45 PM: In a fight against Russian aggression, Ukraine wants to expand its production of long-range combat drones, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. He talked about it with the military leadership and the government, Zelensky said in his evening video address. “The Cabinet of Ministers must do everything possible to ensure that more technologically advanced long-range drones are designed and mass-produced,” he said in Kyiv. As aggressively as Ukraine could use drones against targets in Russia, “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin will find it very difficult to continue his ailing regime and continue the war.”

7:39 PM: At least 20 people were killed in Russian rocket attacks on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, according to civil defense reports on Friday evening. Also, more than 70 people were injured. 14 deaths were reported earlier. The rescuers themselves became the targets: “Unfortunately, a doctor and a civil defense worker died as a result of a Russian rocket attack,” the region's governor, Ole Kiper, said in a telegram.

6:47 PM: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticized Russia for holding presidential elections in Moscow-occupied Ukraine. “The Secretary-General condemns the Russian Federation's attempts to hold presidential elections in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation,” Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday.

The “attempted illegal annexation” of these territories is “void” under international law. The United Nations upheld the “independence” and “territorial integrity” of Ukraine.

6:44 PM: Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced retaliation for recent attacks on Russia. Attacks by “enemies” will not go unpunished, Putin told a televised meeting of his Security Council. “I believe that our people, the Russian people, will respond to this with even more unity.”

The Kremlin leader said Ukrainian attackers had tried at least three times to seize Russian territory in the border region of Belgorod and neighboring Kursk. However, the attackers were Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine. Read more about groups. “This is an attempt to interfere in the presidential election,” Putin continued. He also said that Russian soldiers drove Ukrainian forces from the Kursk and Belgorod regions. In addition, Russian air defenses repulsed most of the Ukrainian missiles.

6:38 PM: Several people were arrested for vandalizing polling stations on the first day of Russia's presidential election, according to officials. Incidents were reported in the capital Moscow, as well as in Voronezh, Rostov and Karachay-Cherkessia regions. It is not clear whether these are protests against the re-election of President Vladimir Putin.