Ukraine official says civilians have 'week or two' to evacuate key hub Pokrovsk

(Reuters) -Civilians in Ukraine's eastern strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk have no more than two weeks to evacuate as Russian troops press towards it, while those in nearby Myrnohrad have only a few days to leave, officials said on Monday.

The Pokrovsk front remains the area with the most intense fighting in eastern Ukraine with a record number of clashes reported last week as the Ukrainian military proceeds with its shock incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

Moscow forces have been steadily inching forward in the Pokrovsk area in recent months. As of last week, they stood just over 10 kilometres from the outskirts of the city, local authorities said.

The head of city military administration Serhiy Dobriak on Monday stressed again that civilians should leave as fast as possible.

Civilians have "a week or two, no more," Dobriak told Radio Liberty's Ukrainian Service when asked about time left for evacuations considering the pace of Russian forces' advance.

Authorities have the capacity to evacuate at least 1,000 people a day, he added, but only 500-600 people per day are currently leaving.

Some 53,000 people, including almost 4,000 children, remain in Pokrovsk and adjacent settlements, the regional governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.

Myrnohrad, less than five kilometres further northeast of Pokrovsk, has been under Russian artillery fire for three days now, acting chief of military administration Yuriy Tretiak said.

There was active fighting a little less than 6 kilometres from the town, he told Donbas Realii, Radio Liberty's project.

"If Pokrovsk still has two weeks, then Myrnohrad has only a few days left," he said.

Local administrative offices and enterprises were being moved from the town, Tretiak said, and shops and drug stores were closing.

TIGHTENED MEASURES

A curfew in settlements lying close to Pokrovsk - Myrnohrad, Selydove, and Novohrodivka - has been tightened, Filashkin added.

"The situation at the front is very difficult and it is likely that the curfew will be tightened in other localities as well," he said on national television.

The forced evacuation of families with children was starting in the Pokrovsk area, he added.

On Monday, Ukraine's General Staff reported 145 combat clashes for the last 24 hours, with 45 alone in the Pokrovsk direction.

Another 24 clashes took place in the Toretsk area, some 47 kilometres from Pokrovsk, that has seen an intensified Russian push as well.

"Heavy fighting continues in the Pokrovsk direction. The defense forces are also doing everything necessary to protect Toretsk," Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Conor Humphries)