As the anniversary of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion approaches, pressure is mounting in areas near the front lines in the east of the country. At the end of the Kharkiv region, liberated in September, near Kupyansk, the situation is tense and the evacuations of civilians are accelerating.
With our special correspondents in Kupyansk, Anastasia Becchio And Boris Vicith
The volunteers’ minibus announces its presence in the courtyard of the building. A few minutes later, an elderly woman with a waxy complexion, supported by two men, got into the vehicle. With the bombardments closer together, her son, Aleksei, ended up convincing her to go to hospital in Kharkiv. “ It hits hard. It’s worrying. Any normal person would be afraid “, he explains.
The fighting is getting closer to the city
At the wheel of the minibus, Oleksiy Reutskij, a volunteer, says that requests for evacuation are increasing. “ A month ago, we were evacuating about twenty people a week. There, for today alone, we have 11 people to go out. We come here almost every day. The situation is tense: people hear that it is hitting harder and harder, that there are more and more fights and that the enemy has come closer. »
Before going to pick up other passengers, Oleksiy visits his father who refuses to leave a particularly exposed area. “ I was born and baptized here. My parents lie across the road says the father. “ It’s complicated to get him out of here, but we’re in negotiationsreassures Oleksij. He will leave for two weeks, the time to let this period pass around the 24th. [février]because everyone expects something. »
A shell explodes, it didn’t go far. Despite this, Oleksiy adds as he gets up: he doesn’t want to leave “.
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