Russian troops are preparing for a big attack in the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine, the local governor Sergiy Gaiday said on Telegram Monday, urging a mass evacuation.
"We see that equipment is coming from different directions, they are bringing manpower, they are bringing fuel," Gaiday said in a video statement.
"We understand that they are preparing for a full-scale big breakthrough," he added.
Gaiday urged residents to leave the region as soon as possible.
"Please don't wait for your homes to be bombed," he said in a separate video.
"Do not hesitate," he added, specifying that 1,000 people had been evacuated on Monday.
A senior Pentagon official said Russia has removed about two-thirds of the troops it had around Kyiv -- who were mostly sent back to Belarus with plans to redeploy elsewhere in Ukraine.
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