Ukrainian volunteers evacuated dozens of residents and their pets from the northern Sumy region in anticipation of further Russian attacks in response to the Ukrainian military incursion across the border into the Kursk region.
The residents headed in vehicles with their belongings towards a gathering point while the Russian forces were intensifying their attacks with air-guided bombs.
The governor of the Sumy region, Volodymyr Artyukh, ordered the evacuation of 28 villages from an area adjacent to the border. Police said on Friday that 20,000 people would have to leave.