Kyiv, Aug. 6 (SANA)Nearly 12,000civiliansremain trapped in active combat zones inUkraine‘s easternDonetsk regiondespite ongoing evacuation efforts, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday.Dmytro Petlin, a representative of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, said the civilians were living in towns and communities designated as active combat areas, according to Ukraine’s state news agency Ukrinform.

Petlin said about 115,000 civilians, including more than 6,000 children, remain in the government-controlled part of the Donetsk region. He added that the region’s population had declined by around 2,400 people since the beginning of August due to voluntaryevacuationsand evacuation operations carried out by the authorities.

Since February 2022, more than 1.416 million people, including over 212,000 children, have been evacuated from their homes in government-controlled areas of the Donetsk region, Petlin said.

Mandatory evacuations from parts of the Donetsk region came into effect on Aug. 2, 2022, as fighting intensified during theRussia-Ukraine war.

Earlier on Thursday, six people were killed and dozens injured in Russian strikes targeting several areas across Ukraine.