Evacuation trains blocked by Russian strikes in east Ukraine

Trains evacuating residents from eastern Ukraine were halted by Russian strikes Thursday on the only line still under Kyiv's control, the head of the Ukrainian rail operator Oleksandr Kamychin said.

"The enemy carried out strikes on the rail line next to the station in Barbenkovo on the Donetsk line," he said in a post on the messaging service Telegram.

The line was the "only exit route by rail for cities such as Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Lyman" in the eastern region still under Ukrainian control, he said.

The connection was "a lifeline for tens of thousands of our citizens today", the rail chief said.

According to Kamychin, three trains were blocked in Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

"We're waiting for the end of the bombardments to clarify the situation. The passengers on these trains have been moved into the station until this is done," he said.

Ukrainian authorities have called on residents in the east of the country to evacuate as soon as possible in light of an anticipated Russian attack.

The Ukrainian governor of the eastern region of Lugansk, Sergiy Gaiday, said Thursday it was the "last chance" to leave as Russia was "trying to cut off all possible ways of getting people out".