“My mother died in Avdiivka, and this is the second time we are leaving,” says a civilian man, preparing to evacuate once again.
The situation in the Donetsk region is currently dire. Residents of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and Kurakhove are fleeing their towns as the Russian army advances rapidly in the area.
Some of those escaping the cities under fire, which the occupiers are destroying with anti-aircraft guns and artillery, are fleeing for the second time. Some left after 2014 from Donetsk and other Russian-occupied cities, some after 2022, and others left Avdiivka less than six months ago. Now, they are searching for a new home once again.
This is reported in an article by Slidstvo.Info. The video has English subtitles.
POKROVSK
“Quick target! Disperse,” the rescuers of the State Emergency Service shout through the smoke-filled street of Pokrovsk. Another shelling is imminent.
Pokrovsk has been under fire since early morning. The city’s population has dwindled to 15,000 residents, compared to 60,000 at the beginning of the invasion.
As of September 29, 2024, the distance to the contact line is 7.4 km.
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- Pokrovsk
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- Pokrovsk
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- Pokrovsk
Local authorities urge people to leave: “It is extremely dangerous to stay in the community today! Evacuation is the only way to save yourself!”
“The city and settlements are shelled almost daily, both from aircraft and artillery,” says Serhiy Akhmetin, Head of the 52nd Rescue Unit of the State Emergency Service in Donetsk Oblast.
Serhiy Akhmetin, head of the 52nd unit of the rescue detachment of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast
Akhmetin, along with other rescuers, barely has time to extinguish one building before another catches fire.
Ivan Subotin, a firefighter
“There is a lot of work in the Donetsk region: Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, the surrounding areas. There is great danger for civilians. Now people have understood, they are evacuating on time and taking their belongings with them,” says Ivan Subotin, a firefighter.
Pokrovsk streets are empty. All shops are closed, the city is under curfew, and there is no electricity, gas, or water supply. Hennadiy Yudin, a police officer with the White Angel evacuation group, says that people are now realizing how dangerous it has become and are leaving on their own.
Pokrovsk
“People need to live in safe places, especially families with children,” adds Serhiy, a police officer with the evacuation team.
KURAKHOVE
The distance to the contact line is 1.05 km (as of 29 September 2024 – ed.). People are leaving en masse.
‘The work is dangerous, but someone has to do it. And who else but us… People are leaving in large numbers. The last three weeks have been something… very scary and incomprehensible. It’s much louder. And a lot more people have started to leave, en masse, somewhere, let’s say,’ says the driver of an evacuation vehicle in Kurakhove.
Kurakhove
MYRNOHRAD
Before the full-scale invasion, almost 50,000 people lived here, and now only 1,500 remain in the city.
Myrnohrad looks more intact than many of the towns in Donetsk region that the Russians have been destroying during their offensive. But several buildings have been destroyed by the GBUs, probably quite large-calibre ones, because only one wall remains in the high-rise buildings.
There are still people in the city.
– I will not leave, I will die here,’ says an 85-year-old resident of Myrnohrad.
– ‘You have grandchildren,’ a policeman from the ‘White Angel’ is trying to persuade her to leave.
– ‘They don’t need me, they don’t even want to talk to me…
According to the neighbors, the grandson of this elderly lady refused to come and take his grandmother from Myrnohrad. She was scared every time there was a shelling and ran to people for help.
‘You just can’t imagine. She came yesterday: ‘I can’t take it anymore, call whoever you want, take me wherever you want,’ says the neighbour.
Eventually, the old lady is persuaded to leave.
People are frightened by the explosions, Russian artillery is reaching the city, FPV drones are flying, and the aviation is working. So they signed up for evacuation.
‘It was getting scary. It was flying overhead, buzzing. It was scary. And the city turned grey. It used to be prosperous, but now… (with sadness — ed.) It’s scary. The mine is gone. It caught fire. For about four hours now, there has been such smoke as if a hundred tyres were burning there. It was scary. And a lot of steam, too, probably from shrapnel. There is no one in my neighbourhood anymore,’ says a local resident who decided to evacuate.
Despite the danger, there are locals who refuse to leave until the end. They think it will be over soon.
‘We waited because we thought they would drive all this stuff away. But you can see how terrible it turns out. We were transporting an asphalt plant. Maybe our guys are there (in a safe place — ed.), our company has moved there. And there is a number for me to call. Maybe they will provide something (shelter — ed.),’ says Andrii, a resident of Myrnohrad.
A family with a child stands near the evacuation vehicle. The man says that his mother died in Avdiivka, so they immediately left for Myrnohrad. Now they are forced to flee from Russian missiles and occupation for the second time: ‘My mum died in Avdiivka, we found out… near the entrance. There was an arrival, she was near the entrance. We left the next day’.
