how the police evacuate children from the frontline Donbas

Children are dressed in bulletproof vests. They put them in armored vehicles. First, their path will lead to a shelter in the region, and then far away from home: to the western regions of Ukraine. This is how children leave Donbas.

The evacuation of families with children from three communities – Pokrovska, Lymanska and Kostyantynivska in Donetsk region – became compulsory. And despite the standard phrases about the decision to leave because it’s scary, which can often be heard from locals who stayed in the front-line zone for a very long time, for many of them the decisive factor was not the military danger, but the arrival of the police. After all, it is now administratively prohibited to leave children under Russian shells and FPV.

Donbas Realities (Radio Liberty project) visited several evacuation sites and talked with children and parents. Every family has its own story, often a tragic one.

Point 1: Kostyantynivka

The town of Kostyantynivka, close to the Chasovoyarsk Front, is now under attack almost every day. Therefore, National Police officers take families with children away in armored cars, and put bulletproof vests on the children.

“Kostyantynivka is under daily shelling by Russian troops. That’s why we talk to the families: we explain that they will be accompanied to the final point of evacuation by police and volunteers; we show them the living conditions. Each family will be given either a separate house or a room free of charge. There will be free food. They provide financial assistance. No one leaves anyone in the field and does not take them out, as someone there says,” he explains Dmytro Tsarkovthe senior precinct police officer of Kostyantynivka, who is currently taking his family aboard an armored bus.

8th-grader Sofia hopes to return and meet her friends

Near the house, two families are waiting for the armored police car with their belongings already collected. One of them is escorted by a man. He alternately hugs his wife and daughter. But they go, and he stays. He says to take care of the house.

“I have anxiety in my heart right now. I don’t know if I will go to my wife’s later, we will see later. But there is always hope that with God’s help everything will be fine,” Oleg shares. And at this time, the policemen are closing the doors of the armored car.

We leave Kostyantynivka and stop. Here, in a safer place, we are waiting for another bus: it will take the families to the shelter in Kramatorsk.

“We are already used to danger. And it would be better to stay at home. After all, this is my hometown. And my friends stay there,” says Sofia, Oleg’s daughter.

She studies remotely in the 8th grade. He says that the school building is intact, so far only broken windows. And there is hope for returning home and meeting friends, Sofia admits.

11-year-old Yaroslav was already used to shelling

Victoria and her son Yaroslav are also leaving in this group. He is 11 years old. First, they will be taken to Kramatorsk, and then to Mukachevo, where free accommodation awaits them.

According to Victoria, they are leaving not because it is dangerous, but because the evacuation is forced.

“They force us to leave with our children. We probably wouldn’t have gone that way. Of course we are afraid, we are afraid – but what can we do,” the woman smiles tiredly.

“We are shelled about once every seven hours. But we are already used to them and do not pay any attention. I hope that I will find new friends in Mukachevo“, says Victoria’s son Yaroslav.

Point 2: Luxurious

Their father was killed by shelling

To the village Luxury near Kostyantynivka we are going with employees of the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk patrol police battalion. A mother with two children and their great-grandmother leave here.

Two children (a boy and a girl), on whom patrolmen are wearing bulletproof vests, lost their father due to shelling by the Russian troops.

“We have been living in Rozkishnoy for the fifth year. And here is my husband [Денис] died He was 30 years old. A “cassette” fell into our yard. She fell apart and killed my husband, she says through tears Julia. – And the children and I were in the house at that time. And he saved us. Because he was standing outside the door, and I was standing behind him. He covered us with himself.”

Julia lost her husband, and Dina Pylypivna – granddaughter She turned 85 years old, and on the day of the evacuation, she was exactly 56 years old when she came to Rozkishny. She worked as a milkmaid in the village, earned a pension of almost 6 thousand hryvnias. And now, he sighs, at such a respectable age he must leave.

“My grandson Denis was killed! He was standing on the threshold, and then he fell on his back and died before our eyes, – cries Dina Pylypivna. – Blood flowed down the corridor. And the children were there, and I was there, and we all saw it!”

Read also: “The FPV drone hovered over us: will it hit or not?” The story of one trip to Chasiv Yar

In an armored bus, he smiles and chats with an old woman and her great-granddaughter – six-year-old Lisa Petro Kozobrodsenior inspector of the patrol police battalion in the cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.

“When I see such small children living under shelling, I think of one thing: they should not live here, they should be taken to safe places. There are even more such children who have experienced grief – lost their father, – shares Petro. – And we spend a lot of time persuading. Because at the beginning, people often do not believe that they will not be deceived. However, later they call us and thank us!»

Shelter: get ready for tears and nervous breakdowns here

This family, as well as others who decided to escape from the attacks of the Russian army, are taken to transit shelters in neighboring cities. We visited Druzhkivskyi.

You can stay here for a few days, and then either take an evacuation train or a motor vehicle (also free of charge) and head further to the west of the country.

The shelter provides free accommodation, food, hygiene, medical, psychological and legal assistance. Near the building, an area was arranged for children’s games and for adults to relax and socialize.

For example, during our visits, the lunch menu included borscht, rice with chicken, and salad.

Shelter employees have considerable experience working with evacuees. And with the manager – Svetlana Grekova – we have known each other for several years. She worked in one of the “points of invincibility” back in Bakhmut.

“If it was a zone of active shelling and fighting, then people come to us in a difficult psychological state: there are tears and nervous breakdowns. People need moral support, peace. Sometimes it’s enough to just talk, sometimes you need to give medicine,” the head of the shelter describes the condition of evacuated civilians.

Point 3: Drobysheve, Limanshchyna

The village of Drobysheve is located near the town of Lyman in Donetsk region. From mid-May to the end of September 2022, residents survived under the occupation of Russian troops. From the outskirts of the village to the front line is currently about 17 km.

On September 5, Russian troops bombarded Drobysheve with three FAB-500 aerial bombs and Smerch anti-aircraft missiles. Shelling damaged 7 houses, there were no casualties, Donetsk police said.

The consequences of the Russian strikes in the center are particularly noticeable: the local church, the cultural center, the post office, and the kindergarten were damaged.

Read also: “I will die in my bed”: how the residents of Mirnograd leave and why they remain under fire

What does a forced evacuation look like: first, the police informed each family about the need to evacuate to save the children’s lives; showed a list of communities and conditions for free accommodation. Then the families make the decision to leave either on their own or turn to the police for help.

“We cooperate with volunteer organizations, charitable foundations and organizations (for example, Save Ukraine, “Angels of salvation”, Red Cross). They help people move to safer regions and settle in communities,” he says Valery Bilenetsa policewoman of the “White Angel” crew.

A 17-year-old boy plans to become a lifeguard, he leaves with his three brothers

When a police officer shows his service card and says that this visit is “about the children,” villager Nataliya quickly replies: “And today we are leaving for Novoselivka (about 3 km from Drobyshevy – ed.)”. After that, she kindly invites everyone to her yard.

The woman has a husband and four sons: the oldest is 17 years old, the youngest is 11.

During the Russian occupation, Natalia’s family did not go anywhere.

“All the time they were sitting in the dark. And we didn’t talk to the Russians,” the villager briefly describes the realities of life surrounded by Russian troops.

Nowadays, Russian ammunition periodically arrives in the village. Once, the woman recounts, she and her son went to the center for humanitarian aid. The shelling began. I had to hide, crawl under fences to survive. And during another shelling, two fellow villagers were killed.

“Then the two men were torn apart. One hid in the building of the former post office. And it just flew there. And he was torn. And another became interested in looking at the consequences of this shelling. Then they collected his legs and head separately,” the woman shares.

Natalya and her sons leave for the neighboring village, and her husband will guard the house. And in Novoselivka, he says, they will live in a house that belonged to the brother of a wrestling coach, from whom one of his sons took lessons. Accommodation for this family will be free.

And there is another plus in the move: the boys will be able to at least get their secondary education online. After all, in Drobyshevo, this family did not have access to stable high-speed Internet.

“I hope that this evacuation will not be long, and we will all return to our houses,” Natalia sighs.

Her eldest son Volodymyr says that it will be more convenient to study in the neighboring village: after all, it is necessary not only to finish high school, but also to acquire a profession. The young man dreams of becoming an employee of the State Emergency Service.

“We are all used to explosions here. And today, the first of September, the mood is not very good: because we don’t have a school here. It was repaired after the fighting, but now it seems to have been closed due to the threat of shelling,” the boy explains.

But, despite the bad mood, both he and his younger brothers say without hesitation: “We hope for the victory of Ukraine!»

Five children leave the house. Grandma stays

Near the house where a family with five children lives, we are waiting for their mother to arrive. An aggressive middle-aged local resident approaches the police. He begins to speak in phrases from Zet channels: they say that the policemen of the “White Angel” crew take people away, and then just throw them into the Lyman. However, he cannot give any specifics. Threatens to break the video camera. Then he apologizes for his behavior.

Ludmila finally arrives. She signs papers certifying her awareness of the forced evacuation.

She recalls that in May 2022, when Russian troops shelled and stormed the village, her family left for Rivne region for a year and a half. The local residents, he says, were generally friendly and supportive. But there were also those who harassed: “They were harassing. They said that we from the Donetsk region are bad, that the war started because of us.”

Lyudmila also remembers May 31 of this year, when Russian troops attacked the village during the delivery of humanitarian aid. Then, he says, the CAB flew in, because of this, the wife of her best man injured her back.

Currently, Lyudmila’s family is moving to the neighboring village of Shandrigolovo: it is located north of Drobyshevo and a little further from the front. And, most importantly, there is no forced evacuation from there yet.

“The local elder found us a house right next to the godfather. We are just putting things in order there now. Our grandmother is staying in this house in Drobyshevo, and my husband and children will be there soon– the woman shares. – My two older twins are 18 years old, then 17, 13 and 2 years old.”

But, he adds, they will not stay long in the neighboring village, because in a few weeks they plan to leave Donbas for Odesa.

“I will tell you honestly: I don’t want to leave my house at all“, sighs Lyudmila.

So far, 339 children have left the settlements of the Lyman community, where the forced evacuation of families with children was announced, on their own or with the help of the “White Angel” police crew and volunteers. So far, one family with one child remains. Over the course of two weeks, about 1,000 children were evacuated from the Kostyantynivska community, while about 1,300 children remain. Forced evacuation from Donetsk region, where the offensive of Russian troops continues, continues.

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