Russia forces continue advance in Ukraine, thousands evacuated from Pokrovsk

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00:00Let's get the latest in the war in Ukraine now. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky

00:04is gearing up to visit Washington next week where he says he'll make a fresh appeal for Ukraine to

00:09be allowed to use long-range missiles on targets inside Russia. It has been a red line for Kyiv's

00:15allies who fear the move would escalate the war in Ukraine. While on the ground the Russian army

00:20is said to be around 10 kilometers away from the eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk. Their advances

00:27have triggered mass evacuations there. Our correspondent Catherine Norris-Trent reports now

00:32from Pokrovsk. This is the town of Pokrovsk in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine and it is a major

00:42rail and road hub which now is under pressure from Russian troops. That was unthinkable even

00:49only a few months ago and because it was far back from the front lines the logistics and transport

00:55hub. But now the Ukrainian authorities and army are shoring up the defensive of this town. They've

01:02moved brigades towards this very sensitive area of the east to try and prevent it being taken

01:09by Russian troops who are less than 10 kilometers away. We can hear quite a lot of artillery,

01:15even gunfire in the background. This is one of the most fragile areas of the eastern front

01:22and in fact over the summer Russian troops have moved forward at the fastest rate since 2022.

01:30This would be a big catastrophe really for Ukraine if ever it did lose control of Pokrovsk because

01:38via these rail routes, these road routes, it supplies logistics to most other Ukrainian

01:44strongholds in eastern Ukraine. Kramatorsk and of course also round to the south as well.

01:52That front which is still ongoing. So they're fighting very hard and trying to dig in

01:57and prevent this from becoming another Bahmut.

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