Mandatory evacuation of families with children begins in Druzhkivka and four Donetsk villages.

Question

The mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and four villages of the Andriyivska community in the Donetsk region has begun

Answer 1

Claim: The mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and four villages of the Andriyivska community in the Donetsk region has begun 

The claim that "The mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and four villages of the Andriyivska community in the Donetsk region has begun" is true. 

According to euromaidpress, “the Authorities in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast have expanded the mandatory evacuation zone for families with children, adding five new settlements due to intensifying Russian attacks. The decision was announced by Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration (RMA), on 14 August.” 

This comes as Russia slowly but surely advances through the Donetsk region, and specifically this evacuation order is aimed at families with kids due to the Russian military systematically abducting children, as talked about here Ukrainian children captured and 'brainwashed' by Russia in preparation for war tell how they escaped, by the NYT. 

According to Interfax Ukraine, Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin said "We are starting the mandatory evacuation of families with children from the town of Bilozerske, the villages of Blahodat, Bokove, Vesele Pole, Vesna, Myrve, Novo-Vodiane of Bilozersk community and from the village of Sviatohorivka, the villages of Vyktorivka, Verivka, Kopani, Novo-Vyktorivka”.

These are the words from the person issuing the evacuation order themselves, undisputedly proving this claim true. 

You can also find the telegram post from said official here, if there was any doubt. Again, his statement was “We are starting the mandatory evacuation of families with children in a forcible way from the city of Druzhkivka, as well as from the villages of Andriivka, Varvarivka, Novoandriivka, Rohanske of the Andriivka community.”

Answer 2

I found the claim that "The mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and four villages of the Andriyivska community in the Donetsk region has begun" is true based on a number of sources. 

As stated in an article by Tetyana Oliynyk, Vadym Filashkin, the head of military administration, stated, "We are starting a mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and the villages of Andriivka, Varvarivka, Novoandriivka, and Rohanske in a forced manner. This decision was adopted today at a meeting of the regional commission on technogenic and environmental safety and emergencies of Donetsk Oblast," Link

This confirms that they are beginning evacuations as the head of military administration announced it. 

But, to confirm that this wasn't just a statement with no action, UKRINFORM.net states that "the White Angels unit evacuated 17 people from the Donetsk region, including a mother with five children." (link to Ukrinform) So, although this is not a significant number of people, this confirms that there is action behind the statement that evacuation has begun, and even within the initial days, there is action.

The source that brought the most clarity, and is the most recent, is from UNICEF. UNICEF states, "Fighting in eastern Ukraine is intensifying, and with it comes a new, large-scale wave of evacuations. In recent days, this wave has swept across Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. In just the past 24 hours alone, humanitarian missions, volunteers, and police have evacuated nearly 500 people from eastern Ukraine - mostly families with children." (Link to UNICEF) This confirms that there has been even more action since the article by Ukrinform. This evacuation is done for the safety of the children and elderly people, yet UNICEF acknowledges the difficulty many have leaving their homes.

Within these three articles above, I have found that this claim is true. 

 

Answer 3

The claim that a mandatory evacuation of families with children from Druzhkivka and four villages in the Donetsk region has begun is true. A Ukrainian website https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/4025756-mandatory-evacuation-begins-in-five-more-settlements-in-donetsk-region.html posted an article claiming that a mandatory evacuation has very much begun. The head of regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin sent out an announcement urging all residents to flee the area and evacuate. Along with that it lists the four villages of the Andriyivska community being Andriivka, Varvarivka, Novoandriivka, and Rohanske, all part of the Andriyivska community in Donetsk region. Filashkin also stressed the importance of getting out due to the 3,000 Russian strikes each day.

Similarly, The Moscow Times https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/08/14/ukraine-orders-more-evacuations-as-russia-steps-up-pressure-a90222 revealed that yet Ukraine had to order another town to evacuate, that town being Bilozerske. The Moscow Times also revealed that Russia continues to invade Ukraine by foot as well as they continue to take over more towns. These facts are all continuing to support the claim that not only have the mandatory evacuation been set but, Ukraine is unfortunately going to continue to place them in order to keep the residents safe.

In particular RBC Ukraine https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/forced-evacuation-in-donetsk-number-of-children-1755732689.html goes into more detail about the evacuation. They state that since the beginning of August around 1350 children had been evacuated but 2424 are still living in unsafe areas, needing to be evacuated. They also state that since August 13th they have expanded the mandatory evacuation list to 14 more settlements in the Bilozerka and Dobropillia communities. Due to these sources the claim seems nothing but truthful as these are Ukrainian and Russian sources, and the mandatory evacuation seems to continue to lengthen.