the exodus of the inhabitants of Sloviansk in the face of the advance of the Russian army in the Donbass

Dozens of buses and mini-vans have been leaving the city of Sloviansk since the beginning of July. Galina hugs her friends before leaving for Dnipro, further west. She just took a few things with her, because the situation is getting “too dangerous“. Sloviansk is, with Kramatorsk, the new target of the Russian army which continues its advance in Donbass.

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In this region of eastern Ukraine, “summer, the beginning of autumn will undoubtedly be very hard, very hard”, estimated Emmanuel Macron, during his interview on July 14. For the Head of State, the war in Ukraine “will last”. In Sloviansk, the few remaining inhabitants are resigned to leaving. Before the Russian invasion at the end of February, this city had 100,000 inhabitants. There are four to five times fewer today.

Difficult to live without water and with electricity problems: Ludmilla, 83, gets supplies from the well every day. “I always told myself that I’m optimistic, that you have to smile… Now it’s getting harder and harder”sighs the old lady who has lived there since 1975 and fears the arrival of the Russians. “That’s why I don’t want to stay here”, explains Ludmilla. Artillery fire echoes in the distance: “It’s like that all the time, day and night”she laments.

Next door, Alexey, a soldier from the Azov battalion, takes advantage of his leave to clean his bulletproof vest. The soldier gives news from the front: “It’s difficult, but we manage to resist.” He takes advantage of the meeting to thank France for the deliveries of Caesar guns. “If we manage to resist now, with the military aid of France and other countries, with 150 mm shells and special purpose shells, we will resist even better”says Alexey.

For the moment, the Russian army has not reached the suburbs of Sloviansk. It is currently about twenty kilometers away and is facing very strong Ukrainian resistance.