Ukrainian governor urges evacuation of 350,000 residents

(Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province, his troops escalated their offensive in neighbouring Donetsk, prompting the governor to urge more than a quarter of a million residents to evacuate.

Gov Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save lives and to enable the Ukrainian army to better defend towns from the Russian advance.