Evacuation of civilians from Artyomovsk ongoing, says DPR leader

The evacuation of civilians from Artyomovsk (known as Bakhmut in Ukraine) is ongoing, acting leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said on Monday.

"Right now, <…> the people — civilians or everybody who is eligible — are still being evacuated. We have been accommodating them in the Donetsk People’s Republic," Pushilin said in a video, posted on his Telegram channel, after visiting the city.

In the same video, a fighter said that the military had been evacuating civilians in groups of 15 to 45 people, literally shielding most of them with their bodies. According to him, fighters have often been stretchering off bedridden or severely ill residents abandoned by the Ukrainians.

Currently, it is no use opening humanitarian centers in Artyomovsk, but the issue will have to be solved later, Pushilin added.