MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. Authorities in the Kharkov Region’s Kupyansk District have ordered the mandatory evacuation of civilians to safe areas, the Kharkov Today media outlet reports.

According to an order issued by head of the Kupyansk District Military Administration Andrey Kanashevich, published by the news outlet, "the decision applies to localities near the combat zone."

Kharkov Today explains that until now, evacuations had been going on in these areas but no one was forced to leave. That said, local residents can still refuse to be evacuated. "It’s not a forced evacuation but a mandatory one. People can formally refuse to be evacuated. Had it been a forced evacuation, there would have been no option to refuse," head of the Kupyansk City Military Administration Andrey Besedin said, as cited by Kharkov Today. He described the situation along the frontline as "very dangerous."

On August 9, head of the Kharkov Regional Military Administration Oleg Sinegubov said that the authorities were considering the possibility of announcing a mandatory evacuation for over 11,000 people from the frontline areas of the Kupyansk District. Over the past several days, the Russian Defense Ministry has been reporting offensive actions by assault teams from Battlegroup West in the Kupyansk area. According to head of the Kharkov Region’s military-civilian administration Vitaly Ganchev, Russian forces have taken control of five settlements in the past few days.