New Delhi, July 4 -- MOSCOW - Vladimir Putin stood at a command post of the Joint Group of Forces on Saturday and told the men responsible for Russia's military advance that they were not finished with their obligations to the people caught between the lines. "There are still civilians in the zone," he said. He asked them to keep doing what he believed they were already doing - and then ordered that it continue regardless.

Russia's president delivering a push to advance and a call to protect in the same address to the same commanders.

What that means in practice depends on where the front line is. As of Friday, it runs through territory that includes towns and villages where not everyone has left. The Donetsk region has been under susta...