- Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/REFUGEES Refugees from embattled town of Debaltseve arrive in Kiev
- Date: 8th February 2015
- Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (FEBRUARY 7, 2015) (REUTERS) TRAIN WITH REFUGEES FROM DEBALTSEVE ARRIVING AT KIEV TRAIN STATION EMERGENCY MINISTRY STAFF AND PASSENGERS ON PLATFORM REFUGEES GETTING OFF TRAIN EMERGENCY MINISTRY STAFF TALKING TO WOMAN-REFUGEE REFUGEES WALKING ON PLATFORM OLD MAN GETTING OFF TRAIN ASSISTED BY EMERGENCY MINISTRY STAFF EMERGENCY MINISTRY STAFF CARRYING OLD WOMAN
- Embargoed: 23rd February 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA4RIXIOA7JJLMAKLSD3F7DCYLH
- Story Text: 170 people evacuated from the eastern-Ukrainian town of Debaltseve arrived at Kiev central train station turned into a major refugees coordination centre on Friday (February 7).
Emergency Ministry staff, some with wheelchairs for elderly people and invalids, met refugees on the platform.
"As of January 22 and to the day of departure (February 6) shelling did not stop for a day. And after the third (of February) when intense shelling began there was no electricity, water or heat. We lived like....I haven't showered for two weeks, TV didn't work, so we did not get any information, nothing. It is crazy there, real humanitarian catastrophe, if not for volunteers, no residents would have been able to get out of there, it is impossible," said Viktor, a refugee, as he got off the train.
Viktor left Debaltseve, the scene of intense fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops, with a convoy of buses which headed to the government-controlled Slaviansk where refugees boarded train to Kiev.
Several hundred people left Debaltseve on Friday, most of them for areas under Kiev control.
"Yesterday morning before leaving I came into my class - I am a teacher. For the past 30 years I've been trying to teach children something, to make it easier for them to study, to equip the classroom. I came in before leaving - and saw that everything was destroyed. Shell hit the school, the school is blown up to pieces, all windows shattered. People are hiding in a cellar, hiding at school," said Vasily, another refugee from Debaltseve.
An estimated 3,000 people still remained in the town which had a population of around 25,000 before the conflict.
Government forces have held on to Debaltseve, a strategic rail hub linking the two separatist-held regions of eastern Ukraine, despite rebel artillery attacks that badly damaged the town.
Upon arrival in Kiev refugees were taken to the train station waiting room, where Emergency Ministry staff offered them food and tea and discussed where to they would like to go.
"The majority of people coming here don't know where to go next. We are offering them various options, preparing documents and sending them further to those regions they said they wanted to go to," said Olena, a psychologist with Ukraine's Emergency Ministry.
Pro-Russian separatists have intensified shelling of government forces on all front lines and appear to be amassing forces for new offensives on the key railway town of Debaltseve and the coastal city of Mariupol, Ukraine's military said on Saturday.
Debaltseve - a vital rail and road junction which lies in a pocket between the two main separatist-controlled regions - remains the focus on the battlefield.
Ukrainian government forces express confidence they have enough firepower to hold the town even though the rebels have steadily encroached in surrounding towns and villages.
More than 5,000 civilians, Ukrainian soldiers and pro-separatist fighters have been killed since a separatist rebellion erupted in Ukraine's eastern territories in April. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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