A new wave of internally displaced persons has arisen in Ukraine with the evacuation of civilians, both from the city of Pokrovsk in Donbass, and outside Sumy in the northeast.
TV4 Nyheternas was there when the Galushka family left their home near the Russian border in the Sumy region.
– I have to flee for the sake of the children, says mother of five Anastasiya.
Anastasiya, the mother of five, stands with tears in her eyes and arms full of bags and clothes. The minibus hums. It’s in a hurry. The war is heard over the forest.
– I have to run away for the sake of the children, she says.
For two and a half years, the Galushka family has endured, trying to live a normal life, but in the last month the fighting has intensified and on Thursday they will be helped by the volunteer organization Proliska to evacuate.
The village is located in the Sumi region. A few miles from the Russian border, where Ukraine has recently advanced.
– The rumble of tanks wakes the children, we have seen drones and rockets fly over the neighbour’s roof. We are so scared.
Forced to say goodbye
On the porch sits the “babushka”, grandmother Zinaida Yaremenko, with the twins Anya and Sasha on her lap. It is not an easy thing to say goodbye. The tears are flowing.
– My sweet teddy bears, my jewels, whispers Zinaida.
With the help of the volunteers, the minibus is packed full of cardboard boxes, bicycles and highchairs. Are all the toys included?, asks four-year-old Toma. Her little sister Victoria comes close and takes her hand.
Out on the street, green and camouflage-colored military vehicles drive back and forth. From the hills some distance away, explosions and machine gun rattles are heard.
It is high time to go.
The children jump into the bus. The neighbor’s dog is barking. The heat is oppressive.
– Hello then .. may God protect you shouts, babushka Zinaida and makes the sign of the cross as the minibus drives off.
Millions on the run
Now an uncertain existence awaits as an internal refugee in the Poltava region.
According to the UN, 3.5 million Ukrainians live as refugees in their own country, and the fighting in the Sumy region and the Russian advances against Pokrovsk in the Donbass have created a new wave of internally displaced people. Representatives of the aid organization Proliska fear that the world is forgetting the Russians’ war of aggression against Ukraine.
– There are so many tragedies every day. Children suffer. Innocents are sacrificed, says Olena Holius, coordinator at the organization Proliska.
– Russia is carrying out an illegal occupation against our country. We need all the help we can get. Don’t forget us, she pleads.