Communities in and around Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, are being urged to flee within the next two weeks as Russian forces are rapidly advancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t wait. It will not get better, it will only get worse. Leave.\u201d That was the stark warning of local official Yurii Tretiak, the head of the military administration in the town of Myrnohrad, which is now less than 4.8 kilometres from the frontline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are nearly 59,000 residents in the entire community, which encompasses Pokrovsk City, Myrnohrad town and 39 surrounding villages, according to the Pokrovsk City military administration. Roughly 600 to 700 people have been evacuating daily, the administration said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The evacuations come as Ukraine\u2019s Armed forces said Wednesday that Pokrovsk is now \u201cthe hottest\u201d front of the war. \u201cThe situation in the Pokrovsk sector remains tense. Ukrainian troops repelled 11 attacks, fighting continues in four locations,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s Armed Forced said in the latest update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that Ukrainian forces are being reinforced in the eastern region to repel a potential Russian advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Western suppliers should let Ukraine fire their powerful long-range weapons at targets in Russia, Josep Borrell said<\/a> on Wednesday. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Borrell\u2014who, as the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief, counts as its top diplomat\u2014argued for \u201clifting restrictions on the use of capabilities vs the Russian military involved in aggression against Ukraine, in accordance with international law\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It would \u201cstrengthen Ukrainian self defence by ending Russia\u2019s sanctuary for its attacks\u201d as well as saving lives and advancing peace efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borrell said the matter would be on the agenda for discussions during back-to-back meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers taking place on August 29-30 in Brussels, involving Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After speaking with Kuleba, Borrell also said Ukraine\u2019s Kursk counteroffensive had dealt a \u201csevere blow\u201d to Vladimir Putin\u2019s war narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ukrainian parliament this week approved<\/a> legislation banning religious organisations with ties to Russia, paving the way for Kyiv to end the activities of the Moscow-linked orthodox church on its soil. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Verkhovna Rada approved the law on Tuesday in its second and final reading, with 265 lawmakers voting in its favour and 29 against, according to MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukrainian officials have long argued that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) operates as an arm of the Russian Orthodox Church to undermine Ukraine and that it is complicit in Russia\u2019s full-scale war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In particular, Ukrainian officials accuse the UOC-MP of working closely with Russia\u2019s powerful security service, the FSB. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with faith \u2014 it is a tool of the special services,\u201d Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine\u2019s presidential administration, wrote on Telegram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The European Commission is steadfast<\/a> in its intention to pursue a strategic partnership on raw materials with Serbia<\/strong> despite concerns over President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s claims that western powers lie behind widespread protests against a planned lithium mine. The Commission remains \u201cfully committed\u201d to the partnership\u2014the latest in over a dozen Brussels has signed to reduce dependence on China for access to the critical raw materials essential for electric car batteries and Europe\u2019s ongoing energy transition\u2014spokesperson for trade Johanna Bernsel said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interim Bulgarian<\/strong> Prime Minister Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva told<\/a> local media on Monday that there was pressure on her to choose particular ministers in her proposed cabinet which earlier in the day had been unexpectedly rejected by President Rumen Radev. As a result of the presidential veto, itself an unprecedented move, the new interim PM has to draft a new cabinet\u2014meaning that the next general election in Bulgaria will be rescheduled from October 20 to a later date. It will be the country’s seventh general election in three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Romanian<\/strong> Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said<\/a> he\u2019ll be a candidate in presidential elections later this year, a move that may strain ties between the two main parties of the governing coalition. The 56-year-old leader announced his bid on Tuesday in a audio recording sent to his party members and obtained by the G4Media news website. The decision to run follows pressure from his Social Democrats to put himself forward for a post that the party hasn\u2019t occupied in two decades. Ciolacu\u2019s move pits him against National Liberal Party leader Nicolae Ciuca, who has already announced his presidential bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kosovar<\/strong> President Vjosa Osmani this week said<\/a> that Kosovo is in consultations with the international community on opening the main bridge in Mitrovica that divides ethnic Albanian<\/strong> and Serbian<\/strong> communities. Osmani told RFE\/RL in an interview that opening the bridge, which has been a point of contention because of concerns that it would increase already high ethnic tensions, is a priority and could turn into a \u201csymbol of normalisation\u201d in relations between Kosovo and Serbia. The bridge divides the Albanian-majority southern side and a Serb-majority northern side of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Georgian<\/strong> authorities have yet to demonstrate that they are conducting effective investigations into a spate of violent attacks on civic and political activists over recent months, Human Rights Watch said<\/a> this week. \u201cA pattern of harassment and intimidation of activists, independent media, and government critics, if left unpunished, risk emboldening malicious actors to escalate violence in the months before Georgia\u2019s upcoming elections,\u201d said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Georgia is set to hold a crucial parliamentary election at the end of October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jailed war criminal Radovan Karad\u017ei\u0107 is suing<\/a> the UK government claiming he suffers inhumane treatment\u2014as he\u2019s not allowed a laptop in his cell. The tyrant, dubbed The Butcher of Bosnia<\/strong>, wants 50,000 UK pounds for human rights breaches. He claims he has also been banned from communicating in his native Serbian and denied food needed to control his diabetes. Former Bosnian Serb leader Karad\u017ei\u0107, 79, is in Albany prison on the Isle of Wight having been convicted in 2019 of genocide against Croats and Muslims during the Balkans War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bookbot, a Czech<\/strong> online platform for second-hand books, this week announced<\/a> a four million euros Series A funding round at a valuation of over 20 million euros. The round was led by new investor Genesis Growth Equity Fund I with the participation of existing shareholder Miton. Since its foundation in 2019 Bookbot has been a rapidly unfolding success story that has made it the biggest seller of second-hand books in Czechia. Bookbot expanded to Slovakia<\/strong> in 2022, to Austria in the summer of 2023 and to Germany in the fall of 2023. The investment is dedicated to accelerate growth in the DACH market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Asian Development Bank (ADB) this week approved<\/a> a 17.5 million US dollars grant to help improve women\u2019s agricultural skills and boost food security in Tajikistan<\/strong>. The Resilient Livelihoods and Empowerment of Rural Women Project aims to improve productivity of women-led farms, strengthen agriculture processing and storage facilities, and enhance support to vulnerable women in six districts of Khatlon, the country\u2019s most populous province and biggest agricultural producer. “ADB invests in women as agents of change,\u201d said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike many news and information platforms, Emerging Europe<\/em> is free to read, and always will be. There is no paywall here. We are independent, not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business organisation. We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can contribute here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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