UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Mar. 31 — As for Mar. 31, two families with children are still remaining in the border Liutivka village in the Zolochiv community, said Viktor Kovalenko, the head of Zolochiv village military administration, to Gwara Media.

Zolochiv community is located north of the Kharkiv oblast. Some of the settlements are located very close to the Russia-Ukraine border, including Liutivka, which is located 7 kilometers (~4,3 miles) from there.

On Mar. 20, local authorities of the community announced plans to declare a mandatory evacuation in Liutivka, Svitlychne, and Makarove border villages because of constant Russian attacks.

According to Kovalenko, two weeks earlier, there were 26 children in Liutivka. Currently, most families have already left, and two children from different families remain in the village. Local authorities plan to evacuate them in the near future.

“One family had planned to leave yesterday evening, but had to postpone their evacuation because of intense (Russian — ed.) attacks,” noted Kovalenko.

Over the past week, local authorities evacuated all children from the villages of Svitlychne and Makarove. In every case, the parents were left with their children. Kovalenko says that during the evacuation, there was no need to apply the new law, which allows a forced evacuation of children from the areas threatened by Russia’s war without parents’ consent.

Kovalenko said that the local government also recorded the increase in evacuation requests from other locals, including elderly people.

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