Sherry Charlie
TAVRISK, Ukraine, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Buses from the main city of Zaporozhye, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, to the village of Tavrisk in southeastern Ukraine have stopped running for the past few weeks.
As war with Russia looms, the village is slowly emptying out. Maryna Vyshnevska, 35, said it was too dangerous for her and her five children, some of the few remaining residents, to stay.
“We thought they (the Russians) would be driven back and this would all stop,” Vishnevska said before loading her family and some belongings into a police evacuation bus. “But when we realized it was only going to get worse, it was better to leave.”
Moscow’s troops have been slowly advancing along parts of the 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) front in recent months as Russia and Ukraine began new U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
While approaching the so-called “fortress belt” of the city in the eastern region of Donetsk, Russian troops are also advancing towards Zaporizhia. Zaporozhye is the capital of one of Ukraine’s four regions, and the Kremlin claims the territory as its own, although it only occupies part of the Zaporozhye region.
‘Every week we see more destruction’
Ukraine’s military said fighting had intensified in recent weeks in key areas of the southeastern front, particularly around the town of Huliaipole, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Tavrisk.
Tavrisk and nearby villages lie on a salient part of the frontline and are surrounded on three sides by Russian troops, and residents told Reuters during a recent visit that they feared for their lives under the constant threat of drone and bomb attacks.
Police teams and volunteers patrol major regional roads covered by anti-drone nets to rescue residents in danger. Local authorities said there were almost no families in the area around Tavrisk.
“Every day, every week, we see more destruction and the risk of entering such towns is greater,” said Vlad Makhovskyi, a 51-year-old volunteer wearing a tactical helmet and gear.
In one location, two men dragged an elderly woman out of a ramshackle house using a bright pink sheet.
Nataliia Fedorenko, 66, broke into tears as she described the growing emotional toll of staying in a war zone as the fighting worsened. Like Vishnevska, she too left.
“It’s terrible. No one wants to die. I know my time is running out, but this death…?”
(Writing by Dan Pereshuk; Editing by William McLean)
