Ukraine: in Kramatorsk, the military situation is still difficult for kyiv
A resident in front of a shell-ravaged house on July 21 in Kramatorsk.
REUTERS - GLEB GARANICH
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
In Ukraine, kyiv has been setting the pace for several days.
The Ukrainian army claims to lead a counter-attack to retake Kherson in the south of the country.
In reaction, Moscow is forced to review its strategy at the risk of slowing down the advance of the Russian army in the Donbass.
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With our correspondent in Ukraine,
Stéphane Siohan
In Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the military situation is still difficult for kyiv, as the Ukrainian armed forces continue to come under full force assault, which is now concentrated around the agglomeration of Bakhmout.
The Russian army is nibbling away at positions around this town, the outskirts of which are being heavily bombarded, and for the civilians who have remained, the situation is really becoming very critical and evacuations are underway.
It is also observed that fighting is raging at the gates of Avdiivka and Pisky, northwest of Donetsk.
The Russians regularly announce advances, but this sector is one of the most solidly fortified by the Ukrainians in the Donbass.
Now, we have to look at the overall picture: for a month, the Russian army has only advanced on the front for about ten kilometers, and this is ultimately very little compared to the stated objective of seize the entire Donetsk region.
Critical situation in Slavyansk No. 1 Hospital
To the north of Slaviansk, the front seems to be holding, and, even a little higher up, we even observe small Ukrainian counter-attacks.
However, for several days, the situation has been getting worse at the city's number 1 hospital.
Natalia Zorina, head nurse, has to make radical decisions: “
We had patients from Sieverodonets, Lyssytchansk, Bakhmout… But now we can only do first aid, we can no longer do outpatient medicine.
So today we're evacuating all the patients.
We are caregivers, we have to help people, so we will stay here.
»
Three days a week, the Ukrainian Red Cross rapid response group visits hospitals in Slaviansk and Kramatorsk.
Oleksandr and his team of volunteers install, not without difficulty, these people in distress in a medical truck: “
Our priority is the immobilized people, who are not able to take transport.
Our role is to transport them to the station in Pokrovsk, And there, at the next stage, they will be taken care of.
»
“
We will help them come back
”
On the platform of the last active station in the Donbass, a team from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) takes over on the daily train, which transports thirty to forty patients to Dnipro.
In the wagons, Albina Jerkova, an MSF doctor, ensures that everything is going well: "
They will then go to hospitals in western Ukraine, in Vynnytsia, Khmelnitsky and Lviv, to receive appropriate medical care. .
We're going to help them come back here, but if that's not the case, the health services in the west will find accommodation for these people.
»
In reality, many evacuated sick old people don't even have a family anymore, and for many of them, this train leaving Donbass will be the last big trip.
►Also read: Russian oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline interrupted for certain European countries
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