Ukrainian families are divided as some flee fierce fighting in the east.

They had just been swept out of their hometown of Toretsk, which is near the front lines where Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting deadly engagements. Olha Skachkova and her son, Denys, who is 11 years old, hopped out of an armored vehicle that had just taken them out of their town.

Millions of Ukrainians have already left for their safety as the conflict inches closer to its second anniversary, and many others who have braved the perils of artillery bombardment and snipers are still being evacuated. The conflict is approaching its second anniversary.

The final straw for her was when Skachkova’s child confided in her that the constant bombardment in the area was keeping him awake at night.

“My child started to feel very scared… it was frightening,” she said inside a shelter in Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk area that is around seven kilometers (four miles) from the front line and is the first port of call for a large number of people escaping the violence. Kostiantynivka is located in the Donetsk region. “So I decided to go.”

Her mother, who is 69 years old, remained in the house. Skachkova recalled her mother’s words about how she did not want to be a burden and shared with Reuters that her mother did not want to depart. “My mother didn’t want to go,” Skachkova said.

Moscow claims it does not target civilians, but the United Nations refugee agency estimates that about 5 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes as a result of Russia’s invasion. A sizable portion originates from the Donetsk region, which has been more severely impacted by the conflict than any other province.

Tetiana Scherbak, a senior volunteer who has assisted in the operation of the shelter ever since March, fled the eastern city of Bakhmut on February 24, the first anniversary of the full-scale invasion that Russia carried out.

Scherbak stated that the Center for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has 80 available beds, and she estimated that she had seen around 700 individuals use the facility throughout its operation.

Families with children often stayed for a few days, but senior refugees found it more difficult to find permanent homes and often lingered for several months.

“(The elderly) don’t want to go anywhere,” according to her. “Many people express that they wish to be close to their cemetery to be close to their relatives. They are under the impression they would be allowed to return to their houses.

“PERMIT ME TO PERISH HERE.”
Maria Maliarenko, 81 years old and a resident of the frontline village of Chasiv Yar, found it difficult to decide whether or not to evacuate her apartment, even after shelling had blasted out the flat’s windows and doors.

“I never in a million years imagined I would leave. I had the notion, ‘Let me die here’. “However, if there is no one else there, you won’t be able to survive without other people,” she explained.

Bakhmut, a city that succumbed to Russian forces in April after some of the harshest and most costly combat since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, was one of the cities that Yulia Nikonova was evacuated from. Her roommate’s name is Yulia Nikonova.

The sniper’s bullet hit the man, aged 76, in the hand, and he remained injured for three days after the incident. The Ukrainian forces who saved her informed her that if they hadn’t intervened, she would have died within the next two days.

“On the fourth and fifth floors, the walls between the apartments would fall like dominoes,” she added, recalling the horrific battles that had left most of Bakhmut in ruins. “On the third floor, the walls between the apartments would fall like dominoes.”

Skachkova and Denys were settling into their temporary home in the room next to them at the center while they waited for more permanent housing to become available elsewhere.

Denys walked over to two other lads and said in their direction, “Let’s be friends.” The response was positive.

He told his new friends, “This is my first time out of Toretsk,” they were excited for him.