Ukrainian authorities estimate that around 83,000 people have been forcibly displaced in the Donetsk region since 1 August, according to the officials.
Hundreds of residents have fled the Donetsk region in Ukraine in September via evacuation trains from Pavlohrad to Kropyvnytskyi and Lviv, amid the escalating conflict as Russian forces advance in the area. The majority of evacuees are from the Pokrovsk district, where fighting has intensified.
Local authorities have issued mandatory evacuation orders, particularly urging families with children to leave. Despite the orders, some were initially reluctant to abandon their homes.
Evacuees from the Pokrovsk district are being transported by bus to the Pavlohrad railway station. Among them is 85-year-old Alina from Novoselydivka, who decided to join her brother in Ternopil, western Ukraine, after her home was destroyed. Her children, already in Pavlohrad, were evacuated by their employer.
Volodymyr and Khrystyna, parents of two, were persuaded by social services to evacuate for the sake of their children, as most of their children’s friends had already been relocated.
Retired 64-year-old Oleksandr, who had hoped for a peaceful retirement, is evacuating for the second time, this time heading to Vinnytsia in the western-central region. He first left his home at the beginning of the war.
Since evacuation trains started running from Pavlohrad to Kropyvnytskyi and Lviv on September 5, Ukrainian Railways has evacuated 374 people from the Donetsk region. While fewer people are leaving now compared to when the trains first departed from Pokrovsk, daily services are still running.
Residents of Pokrovsk have described scenes of horror and massive destruction, struggling to find sleep amid constant bombings. Volodymyr, an evacuee from Pokrovsk, shared the difficulties: “At night, the children were tossing and turning, not sleeping. When the explosions start, my daughter starts twitching and jumping — it’s impossible. And it’s not just her, we’re all affected.”
Khrystyna, another evacuee from Pokrovsk, recounted, “At night, we saw the street burning. Five or six houses, almost half the street, were demolished. People were sleeping in those houses. One house burned until morning.”
Despite the dire circumstances, many Ukrainians remain hopeful for their country’s future. Oleksandr another resident of Pokrovsk said, “The situation in the city is very bad. But people are holding on and believe that there will be Ukraine.”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ukrainian authorities have assessed that about 83,000 have been forcibly displaced in the Donetsk region since 1 August due to the intensified fighting in the area.
Pokrovsk has been a key target for Moscow for months. In August, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region to divert Russian troops from the eastern Ukrainian city.
