DONETSK Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko called on the 350,000 people remaining in Ukrainian-held parts of the province to flee today as Russia’s assault continued.

Mr Kyrylenko said the civilian population were impeding the Ukrainian army’s defence of the province, where Russian troops continue to advance. The whole of neighbouring Lugansk has now fallen to the Russians.

Donetsk and Lugansk are where separatist “people’s republics” backed by Russia were declared in opposition to the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, but before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February these had controlled only a minority of the territory of the Ukrainian provinces of those names.