KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE (AFP) - Hundreds of people fled the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday (April 3), fearing a possible Russian offensive as Moscow focuses its attacks on the south and east of the country.

AFP journalists saw women, children and elderly people boarding a train at the station in Kramatorsk in the Donbass region.

The departure took place in an orderly fashion with the help of volunteers on the platform, but the mood was one of sorrow, resignation and anguish.

"I'm sending my children west to a safer environment, like everyone else," said Andriy, who was accompanying his wife and two daughters to the train headed for Lviv in the west of the country.

"A lot of people have already left. For the past three days, our families are leaving while we men stay on... The situation is bad," he said.

Russia in recent days has announced its intention to focus the war effort on the Donbass region, where Moscow-backed separatists are already in control of large areas since a conflict in 2014.

Russian forces appear to be trying to encircle Ukrainian army units deployed in the region, raising fears of a repeat of the scenario seen in the besieged city of Mariupol in the south.

"The children have left. We have to stay on with my husband to look after my mother," said Svetlana, a volunteer organising the crowd on the station platform as they prepared to board the train.

Clutching suitcases, sports bags and plastic bags with food for the children, many families were also carrying cats and dogs in their arms or had them on leashes.

"These last few days, the station has been full every day... The rumour is that something terrible is coming," Svetlana said.