Donetsk Oblast urged to flee as Russia advanced
A look back at 5 July 2022, when evacuation appeals in Donetsk Oblast followed the fall of Lysychansk and deadly strikes on Sloviansk.
What did the front line in eastern Ukraine look like on 5 July 2022? In Donetsk Oblast, the governor urged civilians to evacuate as Russian forces advanced, with around 350,000 people already having left.
The appeal came two days after Russian forces and those of the separatist Luhansk People's Republic captured the whole of Luhansk Oblast by seizing Lysychansk, on 3 July 2022. Ukrainian forces confirmed that they had been forced to retreat. Lysychansk and its twin city Sievierodonetsk had been the two largest cities in the oblast not under Russian control by May; Ukrainian forces withdrew from Sievierodonetsk in late June, and fighting then moved to Lysychansk across the Donets River.
Sloviansk under fire
On 5 July 2022, Ukraine said two civilians were killed in a Russian missile attack on Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast. On 3 July 2022, the city's mayor reported that six people had been killed and many others injured when heavy shelling from rocket launchers hit Sloviansk.
