The family waited until the last moment to leave. “We didn’t want to leave our house, but with the bombings, it became impossible to stay”says Stas Gabelyuk, 30 years old. This Ukrainian farmer and his wife, Victoria, were evacuated with their three children on Saturday September 21 from the village of Dachne, near Pokrovsk. This strategic city in Ukraine's Donetsk region has been the scene of intense fighting since July. It now threatens to fall into the hands of the Russians, who are only 7 kilometers away.
The Gabelyuk family was evacuated to Pavlohrad, an hour and a half from Pokrovsk. Since August 13, this small town in the Dnipro region has housed a transit center for civilians fleeing the advance of the Russians in Donbass. In six weeks, more than 1,800 people were taken care of there, before being redirected to other cities, deemed safer, and capable of absorbing these new arrivals.
The pace of arrivals is gradually slowing, but evacuations continue to save civilians. Some 15,000 residents are still in Pokrovsk, compared to 60,000 before the Russian invasion in February 2022, according to Katerina Yanzhula, spokesperson for the city administration. The surrounding villages now have only 24,000 people in total, compared to 80,000 previously.
The hope of a “miracle”
“When they arrive here, people are stressed, scared and disoriented, explains Alina Kudriavska, member of the NGO Relief Coordination Center, responsible for welcoming the displaced to Pavlohrad. They lost their home and don't know where to go. But they are happy to have access to water, electricity and the Internet again, and to be in a quiet place, without bombing. »
That same morning, however, a missile fell on Pavlohrad. “These attacks have become more frequent since we installed the transit center, remarks the volunteer. The building may be a target. » As a precaution, security measures have been reinforced: the national police check the profile of each person deemed suspicious, and when new displaced people arrive, volunteers turn off their phones to avoid detection and prevent the crowd from being targeted. .
At nightfall, Sunday September 22, a few volunteers were still busy in the humanitarian tent set up next to the transit center. Two soldiers, energy drinks in hand, pass nearby. They are returning from Pokrovsk. The mood is dark. “Frankly, I don’t know how Ukraine will get out of this”says one of them, whose identity is not revealed for security reasons. When he returned to Pokrovsk the day before, he was chased by a kamikaze drone. “It was right over my head. I looked up at him. It was terrifying. He described a circle, and he went to strike 100 meters from here, on a residential area. It made a huge explosion. » He shakes his head: “I hope there were no more human beings there.” » Disillusioned, this soldier said to himself “100% sure that Pokrovsk will fall into Russian hands before the end of the year”and hopes for a ” miracle “ so that the Ukrainian army can regain the advantage.
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Source: Lemonde
