Ukraine announces forced evacuation of orphans from frontline Kharkiv Oblast
A decision to forcibly evacuate orphans and children without parental care from dozens of settlements in frontline Kharkiv Oblast was announced and published by Ukraine’s Reintegration Ministry on its official website on May 24.
The evacuation, which will be carried out under martial law, was agreed upon by the members of the Coordination Headquarters led by Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
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A total of 123 children from 36 settlements in the Bohodukhiv, Izyum, Kupyansk, and Chuhuiv districts of the oblast will be mandatorily evacuated.
The children, along with their legal representatives, will initially be accommodated in the administrative center of Kharkiv and then moved to the western Volyn Oblast.
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The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the SOS Children's Villages organization will assist in the evacuation efforts.
The evacuation is set to last for 60 days and will be provided free of charge to the affected children.
Earlier, on May 19, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov reported that more than 10,000 people had been evacuated from the oblast since the beginning of the new Russian offensive.
Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast
On May 10, Russian forces attempted to breach Ukraine's defenses near Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian forces successfully repelled the attacks.
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Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russian troops had launched a new counteroffensive in the area.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, described the situation in Kharkiv Oblast as "escalating." He stated that Russian troops had extended the active combat zone by 70 km.
On May 20, the DeepState monitoring group claimed that Russian troops had advanced near 10 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
