Villagers near besieged Avdiivka refuse to leave despite front line approaching

Record ID: 1717623

  • Title: Villagers near besieged Avdiivka refuse to leave despite front line approaching
  • Date: 28th March 2023
  • Summary: SEMENIVKA, NEAR AVDIIVKA, UKRAINE (MARCH 28, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AVDIIVKA COKE PLANT MILITARY VEHICLE PASSING BY DAMAGED HOUSES SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 71-YEAR-OLD LYUBOV (NO SURNAME GIVEN), CARRYING BRANCHES/ ENTERING HOME VARIOUS OF LYUBOV WALKING / LYUBOV'S HUSBAND SITTING / LYUBOV ENTERING HOME VARIOUS OF LYUBOV WALKING AROUND HER HOME / LYUBOV"s CAT SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 71-YEAR-OLD LYUBOV (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Strikes take place in the morning, in the evening, at lunch. They’re unpredictable. Some land here, others land there." LYUBOV'S HANDS SHAKING DURING THE INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 71-YEAR-OLD LYUBOV (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Only God knows. Only he can decide. You lie down to sleep, cover yourself, and start thinking: will you wake up the next morning or not? If you wake up, you thank God for it. We won't leave just like that... Oh, dear God." BIBLE LYUBOV NEAR HER BED (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 71-YEAR-OLD LYUBOV (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "Our army is holding up, and so are we. We have hope. We hope and hope that the situation will calm down. And the most important is that they won't shoot." VARIOUS OF LYUBOV FEEDING COW VARIOUS OF LYUBOV STANDING NEXT TO HER HUSBAND VARIOUS OF SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 56-YEAR-OLD ELENA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SCANNING FOR RADIO SIGNAL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 56-YEAR-OLD ELENA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING (ON WHY SHE'S NOT LEAVING THE VILLAGE): "Because we don't have the (financial) means to leave, and there's no place to leave for. Where should we go, and how can I leave behind my home? That's why we're staying here." VARIOUS OF ELENA HAND-WASHING CLOTHES BECAUSE THERE'S NO ELECTRICITY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) SEMENIVKA RESIDENT, 56-YEAR-OLD ELENA (NO SURNAME GIVEN), SAYING: "There are around 20 houses left (inhabited) in Semenivka, maybe 60 people. More or less." MILITARY PICK UP TRUCK DRIVING BY VARIOUS OF DAMAGED AND ABANDONED HOUSE
  • Embargoed: 11th April 2023 16:24
  • Keywords: Avdiivka Donetsk region Semenivka Ukraine civilians east Ukraine front line war in Ukraine
  • Location: SEMENIVKA, NEAR AVDIIVKA, UKRAINE
  • City: SEMENIVKA, NEAR AVDIIVKA, UKRAINE
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA001086228032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Elderly residents in a village near Avdiivka refused to leave their homes despite intense shelling on Tuesday (March 28). 
    Several miles northwest of Avdiivka's coke plant, 71-year-old Lyubov hunkered down in her home, where she listens to regular artillery strikes while looking after her cow.
    "Strikes take place in the morning, in the evening, at lunch," she said. "They’re unpredictable. Some land here, others land there."
    Lyubov stayed with her husband and cattle, without electricity or means of communication.
    She added that she refuses to leave because she is too old and doesn’t have enough money, thanking God for every morning she wakes up alive.
    "Our army is holding up, and so are we. We have hope. We hope and hope that the situation will calm down."
    In the house next door, 56-year-old Elena also refused to leave, worried she won't have enough money to sustain herself and her son in a safer region.
    Elena uses the radio as the only source to monitor news. 
    With Russian forces making recent gradual gains on the flanks of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military warned last week that the city could become a "second Bakhmut" - where months-long fierce fighting has turned the town into rubble.
    Russian forces have also been shelling Avdiivka, 90 km (55 miles) south of Bakhmut. Many civilians have now been evacuated.
    In its daily update on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, Britain's defence ministry said Russian forces had made only "marginal progress" in an attempt to encircle Avdiivka in recent days and had lost many armoured vehicles and tanks.
    (Production: Kwang Jiraporn Kuhakan, Felix Hoske)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register