UKRAINE-CRISIS/BORDER-REFUGEES Hundreds flee fighting in eastern Ukraine, queue to cross into Russia

Record ID: 274857

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/BORDER-REFUGEES Hundreds flee fighting in eastern Ukraine, queue to cross into Russia
  • Date: 8th February 2015
  • Summary: USPENKA BORDER CROSSING, UKRAINE (FEBRUARY 8, 2015) (REUTERS) LINE OF CARS IN FRONT OF USPENKA BORDER CROSSING ON THE UKRAINIAN-RUSSIAN BORDER FAMILY BY CAR / WOMAN ARRANGING BAGS IN TRUNK BORDER GUARD OPENING GATE, LETTING CAR TO DRIVE IN, CLOSING GATE WOMAN SELLING HOT TEA TO MAN CARS MOVING IN QUEUE / ROAD SIGN READING IN UKRAINIAN "HARTSISK - 62, DONETSK - 93, KIEV - 9
  • Embargoed: 23rd February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAUEJVFMIMHCQUS6QLECR3TGBB
  • Story Text: Long line of cars stretched for hundreds of meters on the Ukrainian side of Uspenka border crossing with Russia on Sunday (February 8).
    Almost all cars had Donetsk region registration plates and passengers said they were fleeing intensified fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian troops.
    "There is shooting going on and people are afraid", said Eduard from Donetsk region as he was sitting in a car with his family.
    "They are shelling... they are shelling and that's why people are leaving. It (a shell) exploded and we got scared, what else can we do ? We want to live," said Viktor also from Donetsk region.
    Pensioner Lidya spoke of the deteriorating living conditions back home and a long wait at the border: "We were sleeping like this", she said pointing at her fur coat and continued: "Here we've already been standing for 12 hours trying to break through to Russia, there they will keep us warm."
    Andrei from Donetsk said he and his wife decided to leave after their house was repeatedly shelled.
    "It's really dangerous there. Where we used to live is dangerous. We just now phoned... we have a friend, he had a very good house and a shell just landed on it and destroyed it, not completely but it shattered the windows and damaged the roof. Three shells hit our five-story house, should we wait for it to hit our apartment, or?," Andrei said.
    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.
    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.
    In a new push for peace, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France agreed to meet in Belarus on Wednesday (February 11) to try to broker a deal amid escalating violence and signs of cracks in the transatlantic consensus on confronting Vladimir Putin.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register