""We're sitting on our suitcases," a woman named Natalia said in Sviatohorivka, a village on the outskirts of the town of Dobropillia, in eastern Ukraine. Russia's army has advanced to within almost 10 kilometers (6 miles) of her home. Ukrainian soldiers have managed to retake some places from Russia, but the villages all around are still under constant bombardment. The only reason Natalia hasn't left Sviatohorivka yet is that her elderly parents refuse to evacuate."
"Evacuating people in Donbas is dangerous, so the group travels in an armored vehicle equipped with electronic combat equipment. David, a volunteer from the AURA charitable mission, is driving, while police officer Ilia Malzev studies the map. They have to pick up people at two different addresses in Sviatohorivka. 'And where will I live?' Seventy-four-year-old Maria is waiting at the first address. She's already packed her belongings."
"A policeman collects her bags while a volunteer helps her to the car. Maria can only walk slowly, leaning on a cane. Finally she gets into the vehicle, breathing hard. "The drones fly straight at us. I actually wanted to stay; I thought, well, I'm already old. But this life is forcing me to go. It's unbearable; there's only one neighbor left on our street, everyone else has gone," she tells us."
Russia's army has advanced to within almost 10 kilometers of Sviatohorivka, leaving villages around Dobropillia under constant bombardment despite some Ukrainian counterattacks. Many residents remain because elderly family members refuse to evacuate, creating acute dilemmas for relatives. Evacuations are organized by a special Ukrainian police unit known as the White Angels, accompanied by volunteers from the AURA charitable organization. The evacuation team travels in an armored vehicle equipped with electronic combat equipment to reduce exposure to drone strikes and shelling. Volunteers and police must search multiple addresses, sometimes finding that listed residents are unknown to neighbors, complicating rescue efforts.
Read at www.dw.com
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