Close to the frontline in Ukraine, the tide of war is coming in fast

In February, Russia captured the strategic town of Avdiivka. Since then, the invaders have advanced further west, and taken several villages. Over 1. 2 million people - or two thirds of the population - have left the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region since Russia’s full scale invasion two years ago.

People in cities like Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka and Kramatorsk are now facing a fast-approaching front line, and even occupation. Almost every street has a damaged building. Russia slowly destroys Ukraine’s cities as it tries to take them. While the whole of Ukraine is a war zone, the Donetsk region is a battlefield.

When you weave through its dense forest and expansive, rugged terrain, you always feel like you’re approaching the coal face of this conflict. You can hear heavy fire from as far as 40 km away, so the distant sound of artillery is constant. Russia is using its size, air superiority and deeper ammunition reserves to keep pushing. Western military aid to Ukraine is running low or being held up by domestic politics.

Across the front line there is a small minority of people labelled as ‘Zhdun’ by the Ukrainians. Valeriy and his grandson Denys refuse to leave their home in Toretsk, Ukraine. The 67-year-old says he needs to save his grandson, who is just 14 years old. The pair board an armoured police vehicle and are taken to a pickup point.

Evacuation from front-line settlements is compulsory for families with children. Despite that 15 children still remain in Toretsk. The train station in the nearby city of Kramatorsk is the last stop for arriving troops and increasingly, departing civilians laden with bags. At least 61 people were killed by one missile strike in 2022.

Ukraine hopes its eastern lands will one day be somewhere safe to live again. Right now it’s unclear what these departing passengers will be returning to. The question of where they will stop will be increasingly difficult to answer. The situation in the Donetsk region is getting worse by the day.

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