MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Kharkov Region authorities are considering the possibility of ordering mandatory evacuation of children from some settlements in the Kupyansk District and the city of Kupyansk itself, the head of the Kharkov Regional Military Administration Oleg Sinegubov said.

"We are considering the issues of mandatory evacuation of children from dangerous areas, including the city of Kupyansk. According to our data, there are 523 children left there," he wrote in his Telegram channel.

Sinegubov added that the previously announced mandatory evacuation of residents from settlements in the Kupyansk district, which are located near the combat zone, is going according to plan. According to him, 33 people have been evacuated over two days.

On August 9, Sinegubov said that the authorities were considering the possibility of ordering the mandatory evacuation of over 11,000 people from frontline areas in the Kupyansk District. The next day, the Ukrainian mass media published an order issued by Andrey Kanashevich, acting head of the Kupyansk District Military Administration, on the mandatory evacuation of residents from areas near the combat zone. At the same time, the Kharkov Today website explained that despite the use of the word mandatory, no one would be forced to evacuate, meaning people could refuse.

On August 10, Vitaly Ganchev, head of the civil-military administration in the Kharkov Region, said that Russian forces were leveling the defense line in the Kupyansk direction and that they were "only a few kilometers away" from Kupyansk. According to him, the evacuation announced by the Ukrainian authorities is related to the fact that units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing to set up defensive positions in Kupyansk and a number of other settlements. Earlier, he also noted that many residents often do not want to evacuate.