Ukrainian official says mandatory evacuations being carried out in Sumy region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Ukrainian official said on Wednesday that mandatory evacuations are being carried out in the country’s northeastern Sumy region.

Sumy Governor Volodymyr Artyukh told Ukraine’s national telethon United News that he signed a decree on the mandatory evacuations, which he said concern 23 settlements in five communities of the region’s Sumy district.

Artyukh further said the evacuations concern about 6,000 people, including 425 children, and expressed that their primary task is to evacuate families with children.

He also said the evacuation zone concerns a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) border area.

“The situation in Sumy Oblast is quite tense,” Artyukh noted, adding that the air alert sounded in the region lasted more than a day.

Earlier, the Sumy Regional Military Administration claimed on Telegram that Russia shelled border areas and settlements in the region 29 times overnight and in the morning.

The border region lies adjacent to Russia’s Kursk region, where Moscow claims to be repelling incursions by Ukrainian troops since early Tuesday.

Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on Moscow's claim, and independent verification is difficult due to the ongoing war.