Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukraine orders evacuation of families from key city of Pokrovsk

Summary

Kyiv is urging families to flee the strategically important Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, as Russian forces advance
This comes as Moscow’s troops claim to have taken another town 70km (43 miles) from the city
Meanwhile, as Ukraine continues its incursion into Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian forces are “achieving our goals” in the Kursk region
Ukraine says it has destroyed two strategic Russian bridges on the River Seym and there are reports of damage to a third
Russian forces appear to have built temporary structures across the Seym, analysis by BBC Verify shows

Live Reporting

Edited by Malu Cursino

LIVE stream page 1

Russian troops close in on Pokrovsk as Ukraine continues incursionpublished at 17:47 British Summer Time 19 August

Malu Cursino
Live reporter

Thanks for being with us as we brought you the latest developments on the Russian advance further into eastern Ukraine, and the continuous Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory.

We’re now bringing our coverage to a close, but before we go here are some of the main lines we’ve been following for you today:
- Authorities in Ukraine have ordered the evacuation of families with children from the city of Pokrovsk, in the unoccupied Donetsk region. Russian forces have been closing in on a key road in the city, responsible for supplying Ukrainian troops on the eastern front
- More than 53,000 people, including almost 4,000 children still live in the town, according to Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin
- Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued its incursion into Russia, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying Ukrainian forces are “achieving our goals” in the Kursk region
- Ukraine says it has destroyed two strategic Russian bridges on the river Seym and there are reports of damage to a third
- And Russian forces appear to have built temporary structures across the Seym, according to analysis by our colleagues at BBC Verify
To follow the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war, head here.

Today’s page was produced by Thomas Copeland, Barbara Tasch, Nadia Ragozhina, Sophie Abdulla and myself.
No 10 says support for Ukraine is ‘unwavering’published at 17:36 British Summer Time 19 August

Harry Farley
Political correspondent

The British government’s support for Ukraine is “unwavering”, Downing Street insisted after President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested UK support had “slowed down recently”.

A Number 10 spokesperson said the prime minister wanted to express his “full admiration for the bravery shown by Ukrainian soldiers” in Kursk.

But when asked about Storm Shadow missiles, and whether Ukraine is permitted to use them as part of its push into Russia, the PM’s deputy spokesperson said there’d been “no change” in London’s position.

The spokesperson reiterated that Downing Street’s support is “unwavering”, adding that the government has committed to £3bn a year in support for Ukraine “for as long as it [the war] lasts”.

Image source, EPA
Image caption,Earlier in July, Sir Keir Starmer welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to 10 Downing Street
In pictures: Russians evacuate Kursk regionpublished at 17:30 British Summer Time 19 August

More than 121,000 civilians have been evacuated from Russia’s Kursk region since Ukraine launched its incursion nearly two weeks ago.

Russian civilians evacuated from the border with Ukraine received humanitarian aid delivered by the Russian Red Cross in Kursk on Monday

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA
Peace talks out of the question amid Kursk incursion, Lavrov sayspublished at 17:14 British Summer Time 19 August

Image source, Getty Images

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has ruled out talks between Moscow and Kyiv amid Ukraine’s offensive into the Kursk region.

As reported by Russian media, Lavrov says President Vladimir Putin has made clear there can be no “talk” of any negotiations, adding that the situation will be assessed at a later date.

It comes after a senior aide to the president ruled out peace talks as “inappropriate” at the moment.
Russian TV viewers told Ukrainian troops are being ‘destroyed’published at 16:56 British Summer Time 19 August

Damien Sharkov
BBC Monitoring

Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region has continued to feature prominently on Russian state TV, though pundits have been wary of giving viewers the impression that Moscow is struggling to deal with it.

Morning news bulletins on the country’s most popular TV channels focused their reporting on the “achievements” of Russian forces in inflicting damage onto Ukrainian troops.

Over the course of the day, political talk shows followed suit.

Despite occasional references to the situation being “tense” and “difficult”, viewers were repeatedly told Russian forces were repelling Ukrainian attacks, downing drones and striking hardware.

“Ukrainian formations are being destroyed by aviation and artillery,” Rossiya 1 presenter Yevgeny Popov said, adding that Ukrainian reserves were “under constant fire”.

Presenters did not offer comparable information about Russian military casualties.
Russian commander urges conscripts’ parents to accept Kursk deploymentpublished at 16:47 British Summer Time 19 August

Francis Scarr
BBC Monitoring

A Russian military commander has hit out at parents of conscripts for objecting to their sons being sent to the Kursk region to counter the ongoing Ukrainian incursion.

President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly issued assurances that conscripts – many of them aged only 18 – would not be sent to war, with professional soldiers doing the fighting instead.

But independent website Agentstvo has reported that Russia is sending conscripts to fight in Kursk as the Kremlin seeks to avoid redeploying forces from eastern Ukraine, where it is slowly advancing.

In a six-minute video posted on Telegram, commander of the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit, Maj Gen Apti Alaudinov, told conscripts’ parents: “If your 18-year-old children should not defend the fatherland even when it is attacked by the enemy and when it is on our territory, I have one question for you: What does this country need you and your children for?”.

Alaudinov said the conscripts should not be afraid to die “in defence of the fatherland”.

Image source, EPA
Why morale matterspublished at 16:39 British Summer Time 19 August

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

When a Ukrainian military adviser says the incursion into Russia has given his side a huge morale boost this can have a military, as well as a civilian, dimension.

Throughout the Vietnam War the US had total air superiority and vastly greater firepower and resources than its enemy, the North Vietnamese Army and the Vietcong.

Yet in the latter years of the war it was clear that the American public were not behind the war effort, and this had a detrimental effect on the fighting ability of US troops on the ground.

In Ukraine’s case, morale – both civil and military – has been steadily falling ever since it became clear that last year’s much-vaunted summer offensive had failed.

Notable Ukrainian successes in the Black Sea, Crimea and against targets deep inside Russia have not been enough to dispel the overall sense that on land at least, Ukraine is losing.

Russia is still gaining ground in the Donbas but this incursion will have gone some way to re-energise Ukrainian troops fighting on the ground and show Ukraine’s Western backers this is far from a lost cause.
WHO records highest number of attacks on healthcare in Ukrainepublished at 16:23 British Summer Time 19 August

The World Health Organization (WHO) says 1,940 attacks on healthcare services in Ukraine have been registered since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“This is the highest number WHO has ever recorded in any humanitarian emergency globally to date”, the organisation says in a statement.

“We are losing colleagues – healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, paramedics,” says the WHO representative in Ukraine Dr Jarno Habicht.

“We are witnessing a blatant disregard for the fundamental principles of humanitarian law,” he adds.

The organisation says the deaths of 24 health workers and patients were documented last year – whilst 34 died from attacks on health care in the first seven and a half months of this year.
Pokrovsk: Russia inches closer to Ukraine’s logistical hubpublished at 15:53 British Summer Time 19 August

In parallel to responding to Kyiv’s Kursk incursion, Russian troops have made some significant gains to the north-west of Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

In response, Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of the city of Pokrovsk, with the Russian advance towards the city being the most notable change in front line control near Donetsk in several months.

Pokrovsk – Ukraine’s defensive stronghold – sits on the intersection of a main road supplying Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front.
Ukraine urges families in Pokrovsk to flee townpublished at 15:30 British Summer Time 19 August

Let’s now turn our attention back to eastern Ukraine, where the government has urged families with children to evacuate the town of Pokrovsk as Russian troops continue to move closer to the city.

“Recently the front has come too close,” Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin says, ordering the “compulsory” evacuation of children and their parents from 14 localities in the area.

Over 53,000 people, including almost 4,000 children still live in the town, Filashkin adds.

“Children’s safety is the responsibility of adults. When our cities are within range of virtually any enemy weapon, the decision to evacuate is necessary and inevitable,” he says.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister also called for the evacuation of Myrnograd and Selidove. Writing on her Telegram channel, she says “If you are not involved in the defence of settlements, then you should leave for safer regions”, adding “your presence there interferes with the work of the defence forces”.

For months, Russia has been making advances into eastern Ukraine, capturing a number of villages close to Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub for Ukraine – over the last few days.
Ukraine to receive more weapons from Germanypublished at 15:16 British Summer Time 19 August

Germany has provided a new package of military aid to Ukraine, according to Kyiv’s defence ministry.

“We are grateful to our German friends for their unwavering support,” the ministry says, adding that Berlin is supporting their fight against Russia.

Among the items Berlin has sent to Kyiv is an air defence system, 14,000 rounds of ammunition, some 26 drones and more than 100 rifles.

The German government says it is committed to providing Ukraine with about €28bn (£23.8bn) in military aid in total (so far and in years to come).
New river crossings built after Ukraine destroys Kursk bridgespublished at 15:01 British Summer Time 19 August

By Benedict Garman

Following significant damage to multiple bridges in the Kursk region, Russian forces appear to have constructed alternative routes across the river Seym.

BBC Verify has identified what appear to be two pontoon bridges, on either side of the town of Glushkovo: one around 1.8km (1.1 miles) to the east, and another nearly 4km (2.5 miles) along the river to the northwest.

Pontoon bridges are temporary, floating crossings, quickly constructed and used in the absence of permanent structures.

In these satellite images taken on Saturday, the two recently built crossings can be seen.

Image source, Planet Labs PBC
Image caption,New bridges across the river Seym near Glushkovo, from 17 August

The bridges only appeared on satellite imagery in the last few days – seemingly as a response to Ukraine’s attacks.

The battle over the river is of strategic importance, according to RUSI associate fellow Samuel Cranny-Evans, who says: “If Ukraine is able to … establish its own defensive lines on [the Seym river], they could be very difficult for the Russians to dislodge.”
Incursion ‘a huge boost’ for morale, Ukraine’s military adviser sayspublished at 14:40 British Summer Time 19 August

Ukraine’s incursion has given “a huge boost” to morale both inside and outside the country, a military adviser to the Ukrainian government has told the BBC.

“We see the situation in US and people like Donald Trump, they still like winners, people who can produce results,” Mykola Bielieskov tells the Newsday programme.

Donald Trump and many of his supporters in the Republican Party have expressed growing scepticism about US military support for Ukraine since Russian’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Bielieskov also says the incursion has goals beyond building a buffer zone between Ukraine and Russia.

He says they want to “explore [a] psychological dimension,” but he admits the incursion has failed to force Russia to the negotiating table.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t change Russian calculation. Russia still thinks that they can win militarily,” Bielieskov says.

This means that, for now, “this is still a war of attrition, still a war of resources,” he adds.
What’s the latest?published at 14:24 British Summer Time 19 August

Two weeks on from Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, here’s where things stand:
- Reports suggest a third bridge across the river Seym in Russia’s Kursk region, days after two other key bridges vital for the region’s road network were damaged by Ukraine
- Our colleagues at BBC Verify have not yet seen visual evidence of the third bridge collapse, but are continuing to monitor the situation
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the country is “achieving our goals” in Kursk – whilst “heavy fighting” continues in the Donetsk region, near the Pokrovsk town
- Russia’s defence ministry says its forces have captured another Ukrainian town near the strategic city of Pokrovsk
Stick with us as we continue to bring you the latest news and analysis.
Unconfirmed reports of a third bridge destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Kurskpublished at 13:44 British Summer Time 19 August

By Benedict Garman

Let’s turn our attention back to the Kursk region in Russia, and BBC Verify has been analysing social media reports claiming the destruction of three bridges along a stretch of the River Seym by Ukrainian forces.

On Friday, Ukraine’s military released footage of its strike on a bridge across the river by the town of Glushkovo, around 11km (6.8 miles) from the border with Ukraine. A satellite image from Saturday shows the extent of that damage.

Image source, Planet Labs PBC
Image caption,A partially destroyed bridge across the River Seym in Glushkovo, Kursk

On Sunday, the commander of the Ukrainian air force shared footage of a strike on another bridge across the Seym, which we’ve geolocated to the nearby village of Zvannoye, north west of Glushkovo.

Photos shared online which Verify has matched to the Zvannoye bridge show a large hole in the road surface. Based on these pictures, and satellite imagery of the damaged bridge, narrow sections of the bridge may still be passable.

This morning, claims emerged on Russian social media that Ukraine has now damaged a third bridge along the same stretch of river, this time in the village of Karyzh.

BBC Verify has not seen visual evidence of this, and although a photo purporting to show the damage is being widely shared online, this image is not of the Karyzh bridge. Satellite imagery from yesterday shows no damage to the bridge. BBC Verify is continuing to monitor the situation.
Russia says its forces captured another town near Pokrovskpublished at 13:19 British Summer Time 19 August

The Russian Armed Forces say they have captured the town of Zalizne (in Russian: Artyomovo) in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region, the Russian Defence Ministry has announced.

“As a result of active operations, units of the Tsentr (Centre) group of forces have liberated one of the major settlements in the Dzerzhinsk agglomeration, Artyomovo, in the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the ministry stated in its daily update.

The town is fewer than 70km away from Pokrovsk, a strategically important hub that Russia is moving towards.

“Heavy fighting continues in the Pokrovsky direction,” President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in an update on his Telegram channel, while the governor of the region has ordered the evacuation of families with children from the town.
Why is Russia targeting the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk?published at 12:52 British Summer Time 19 August

For months, Russia has been making advances into eastern Ukraine, capturing villages close to Pokrovsk over the last few days.

Pokrovsk – located about 70km (43 miles) north-west of Russian-held Donetsk city – is a key logistics hub for Ukraine.

The city is a defensive stronghold and sits on the intersection of a main road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front.

In recent weeks, Russia has inched closer to the outskirts of Pokrovsk, taking a string of tiny villages towards the city, with Moscow claiming Lysychne and Ivanivka, both north of Serhiivka and close to Pokrovsk.

Last week the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Dobryak, urged residents of Pokrovsk, especially families, to evacuate as Russia was “rapidly approaching the outskirts”.
Damage to river Seym bridges could hinder Russia’s logisticspublished at 12:38 British Summer Time 19 August

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring

Reports say Ukrainian forces have hit the third and last bridge across the river Seym in Russia’s Kursk region.

These bridges are a vital part of the region’s road network, their destruction or damage would significantly complicate logistics for Russia.

A key state TV journalist, Vladimir Soloviev, published what he said was a statement by Russia’s official investigations committee, which said a bridge at the village of Karyzh was “damaged” on 18 August.

Last week, Ukrainian forces destroyed a bridge at Glushkovo, with pictures circulating online showing it collapsed into the river.

Then, on 18 August, Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk published a video of a strike against the bridge at Zvannoye. According to BBC Verify, the extent of damage done to this bridge is unclear and it may still be passable on foot.

Yuriy Podolyaka, a key Russian pro-war blogger (who has more than three million followers on Telegram), says Russian forces in the area now have to rely on pontoon bridges.
Timing and logistics are keypublished at 12:12 British Summer Time 19 August

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

For Ukraine’s strategy in this incursion, timing and logistics are crucial.

In an ideal world for Kyiv, its actions will achieve both of its key aims: holding onto enough territory for long enough to use both as a buffer zone and as bargaining chip in eventual peace talks with Moscow and, more immediately, forcing the Russians to redeploy some of their combat troops away from the Donbas where they are slowly advancing.

That Russian redeployment hasn’t happened, at least not yet.

That will be a disappointment to Kyiv and an incentive to hang on in the territory it’s taken inside Russia’s Kursk region for longer.

But there are risks here for the Ukrainians. Their initial incursion on 6 August was a brilliantly executed manoeuvre that took the Russians by surprise.

However, the Russian military, slow to move at the best of times, is cranking into gear and will be ratcheting up the pressure on Ukraine’s supply lines.

Logistics, the unglamorous element of warfare, can often decide victory or defeat. The more territory Ukraine takes inside Russia, the more stretched those logistic supply lines will become.
‘Heavy fighting’ continues in Ukraine’s Donetsk regionpublished at 12:02 British Summer Time 19 August

Let’s now bring you a bit more from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent update on the situation in the Russian territory of Kursk and on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

After hearing from the highest ranks of the Ukrainian military, Zelensky says Kyiv is “achieving our goals” in Kursk.

Turning his attention to the situation in Ukraine, the president says “heavy fighting” continued in the Donetsk region, near Pokrovsk, adding that his government is working to provide weapons to those on the frontline.

He also says he’s had discussions about aspects of the country’s missile programme.