Ahead of the encroaching Russian forces, Ukrainian volunteers have been evacuating civilians from Ocheretyne and other villages, posting videos on social media showing older residents leaving badly destroyed apartment buildings, along with their pets, and with belongings packed into cardboard boxes. A photograph taken on April 11, 2024, near the town of Chasiv Yar, in Donetsk region, shows smoke rising from fires after bombing. Anatolii Stepanov/AFP/Getty ImagesAbout 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Ocheretyne, on another piece of higher ground, the town of Chasiv Yar is also firmly in Russian sights. “The situation around the town of Chasiv Yar is difficult,” Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Ukrainian Ground Forces’ “Khortytsia” operational-strategic group, told CNN. Ukraine’s vulnerability in the face of the FAB threat highlights another huge need for Kyiv – more air defenses.

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Persons: Oleksandr Syrskyi, Novokalynovo, Boris Rozhin, Anatolii Stepanov, Velyka, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Mike Johnson, Jake Tapper, “, Vladimir Putin doesn’t, Lloyd Austin, Chasiv Yar, ” Nazar Voloshyn, Yurii Fedorenko, Yar, Chasiv, ” Voloshyn, Zelensky, Victoria Butenko Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian, United States Congress, Russian, Getty, Ukraine’s Eastern Command, ” Artillery, US, House Defense, House, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kremlin, Nazi, Ukrainian Ground Forces, Separate Assault Brigade, Reuters, Ukrainian Telegram, FAB, Kyiv, NATO Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Ocheretyne, Avdiivka, Ukrainian, Novokalynove, Donetsk, Ocheretyno, AFP, Tonenke, Pokrovsk, Europe, Russia’s, Chasiv, Nazi Germany, Kalynivka, Ivanivske, Zaporizhzhia region, Chasiv Yar, Kharkiv