Ukrainian civilians are fleeing the key eastern city of Pokrovsk where Russia’s grinding advance in the Donetsk region is gathering momentum.

Local authorities said Moscow’s forces were advancing so quickly that families are now under orders to leave the city, which is still home to 53,000, and nearby towns and villages.

People of all ages boarded trains and buses with the belongings they could carry and small children in their arms. Some wept as they waited to depart, while soldiers helped the elderly and disabled.

Ukrainian forces said they were coming under heavy Russian attack on Tuesday morning around Pokrovsk, which is one of Kyiv’s main defensive strongholds and a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region.

“It was terrifyingly scary,” Natalya Ivaniuk said as she fled her village, which is now less than six miles from the frontline, with her two young daughters. “We barely got out,” she added.

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