Over 600 children remain in forced evacuation zones in Donetsk
In the settlements of Donetsk region, where families are undergoing mandatory evacuation, 697 children still remain.
This was reported by Ukrinform.
According to Dmytro Petlin, a representative of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, during an online briefing on January 7, 2026, the dangerous situation persists in 11 settlements in the region. The highest concentration of minors is in the Druzhkivka community, where 248 children remain despite the threat of hostilities.
Despite the difficult conditions, over the past week, rescuers and police managed to evacuate 39 children along with their legal guardians to safer areas.
Since the beginning of the forced evacuation measures in Donetsk, a total of 19,423 children have been relocated. Authorities emphasize that the evacuation is critically necessary due to ongoing Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure, which deliberately targets residential areas.
Unlike the occupiers, who carry out illegal deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia, Ukraine ensures that evacuated families receive free housing, social benefits, and psychological support within government-controlled territories. The coordination headquarters continues to work to persuade parents who remain in frontline areas to leave immediately for the safety of their children.
Earlier, mandatory evacuation of children with their parents was implemented in 19 settlements in Donetsk.
Previously, the Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine announced the start of forced evacuation of children with parents from dangerous areas of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. The ministry also confirmed that mandatory evacuation has been approved in several settlements of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, with children required to be accompanied by parents or legal guardians.
In Kharkiv region, mandatory evacuation of families with children has been announced from the village of Odnorobivka.
