TESTIMONY
Ukraine: authorities still trying to evacuate residents of Donbass
Evacuation of residents of Donbass at the Pokrovsk station to Dnipro and Lviv, August 4, 2022. REUTERS - Alkis Konstantinidis
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Ukraine, evacuations of civilians continue.
Faced with the continuing fighting, the authorities are trying to get 200,000 people out of Donbass.
But now, it is a question of evacuating the elderly, invalids or people who no longer have any family or who sometimes try to stay at home at all costs.
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From our special correspondent in Pokrovsk
,
Stéphane Siohan
It is almost 4:30 p.m. and the only train that connects Donbass to Dnipro, from Pokrovsk station, will soon leave.
On board, there are only refugees, who have been evacuated all day by NGOs and groups of volunteers.
Among them is Andriy, 52, a resident of Avdiivka, who finally broke down and can't hold back his tears.
“
I wanted to leave, we had two apartments, we were renovating one, and then boom, an explosion!
Luckily, I wasn't there at the time!
I came to Pokrovsk from time to time for work, and I made the decision to leave last night.
Like that, I registered,
he says.
I have already been a refugee here for a month.
In eight years, I have changed places eight times.
I couldn't take it anymore, so I called the emergency number.
They told me to come and that they would explain everything to me, that they would do the documents, that they would give us food.
Afterwards, I don't know, I'm going to work, I'll find something.
»
Like most passengers, Andriy has no idea of his final destination.
He will stay a few nights in Dnipro, in a center for displaced people, then settle down, where the wind will carry him, convinced that his city will soon be destroyed, and that he will never see
Donbass
again .
On July 30,
President Zelensky called on residents of the Donetsk region
to evacuate due to pressure from the fighting and Pokrovsk, some 40 kilometers from the front line, is the last operational station allowing Ukrainians to flee to the west.
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