Ukraine expands evacuations in Sumy region amid offensive fears

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine ordered the evacuation of 11 more villages in its Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday amid fears Moscow was gearing up for a fresh ground assault.

Russia claims to have captured several settlements in the northeastern region in recent weeks, and has massed more than 50,000 soldiers on the other side of the border, according to Kyiv.

The evacuations came just two days before a possible meeting between the two sides in Istanbul, as Washington called on both countries to end the three-year war.

Russia has confirmed it will send a delegation to the Turkish city, but Kyiv has yet to accept the proposal, warning the talks would not yield results unless the Kremlin provided its peace terms in advance.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of doing “everything” it could to sabotage the potential meeting by withholding its peace terms.

Authorities in Ukraine’s Sumy region said Saturday they were evacuating 11 villages within a roughly 30-kilometre (19-mile) range from the Russian border.