(VOVworld) – Thousands of Ukrainians began fleeing the cities in eastern Ukraine as Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko ended the cease fire on July 1^st and resumed his military campaign targeting Lugansk and Donetsk that has been under the control of pro-Russian separatists since April. The defense minister of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Igor Strelkov, told a press conference that on Saturday that more and more people are evacuating the region. Unofficial statistics indicated that at least 70,000 Ukrainian people have left Donetsk.

Passengers queue to board a train at the main railway station in Donetsk Friday. Photo: Reuters/Maxim Zmeyev