LUGANSK, July 11. /TASS/. Ukrainian police officers and volunteers are forcibly evacuating people from a number of cities in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) controlled by Kiev, Aide to the Interior Minister of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Vitaly Kiselyov told TASS on Monday.

"A mass evacuation is underway in the cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Seversk, Soledar and Artemovsk," he pointed out. "Ukrainian volunteers, together with Ukraine’s National Police, are trying to forcibly move civilians to the country’s western regions. They are saying that the Russian army is about to launch a major offensive," Kiselev added.

According to him, most civilians are refusing to be evacuated. "More than 80% of people are saying that they don’t want to leave their homes, they don’t care about war and military activities. In fact, people can honestly say that they are waiting for us," the LPR official noted.

A source close to the LPR People’s Militia earlier told TASS that the allied forces had liberated the Bogorodichnoye settlement as part of preparations for an advance on Slavyansk. Kiselev also confirmed this information. On Sunday, LPR Ambassador to Russia Rodion Miroshnik wrote on Telegram that the allied forces continued an advance on the DPR city of Seversk after taking the Grigoryevka (Grigorovka) settlement.