The migraines suffered by Vassyl Slaboun, 62, since he helped fight the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, redouble today to the sound of constant artillery fire in Chassiv Iar, his city, in the east from Ukraine.
It is 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday and this former conscript from the Soviet army is waiting for a minibus from an association of volunteers which is evacuating the inhabitants of this city. Suddenly new shellfire rang out in the direction of nearby Bakhmout, held by the Ukrainians and which the Russians have been trying to conquer since May. “It’s deafening. My nerves are raw! said Vasyl.
“It’s a habit,” he says with a toothless smile, which appeared through a thick salt-and-pepper beard, lifting a cigarette to his lips. Soon a white minibus arrives. The man greets the driver and a volunteer accompanying him with a firm handshake. His two small backpacks are loaded in the back of the vehicle. That’s all Vassyl Slaboun takes away. “I will come back when the Ukrainian army has won,” he said. I was born here and my whole family is buried here. »
The minibus chartered by the NGO Save Ukraine weaves through the snowy streets towards the next pick-up point, taking advantage of a relative lull in the artillery fire. Since the very start of the conflict in Ukraine in 2014, the charity has been evacuating vulnerable people from war zones. In early February, it said it had brought more than 83,000 children, adults and people with disabilities to safety since the invasion began.
In recent weeks, more and more people have asked for help to leave Chassiv Iar, a pre-war population of 12,000. This is because the fighting has come closer to the highway south of the city, which joins Bakhmout a few kilometers further east.
The first bus stop to drop off passengers is Pokrovsk, an hour and a half to the southwest, where there is an emergency assistance center. There, the displaced will be assisted in their search for longer-term accommodation to start a new life away from the front line.
Fears and bereavements
Lioubov, 65, leaves Chassiv Iar to go to Lviv, the big city in western Ukraine. She is accompanied by her daughter Olena, 45, and Liolik and Richard, their two small dogs settled on their laps. “It’s a little scary when the bombings happen, and we don’t want to hear them,” explains the one who did not wish to give her last name. “I want to see my granddaughter, who lives where we are going. We hope that the Ukrainian army will fight for us and defeat the Russians. Then we will come back. »
The minibus moves slowly down a slippery side street and stops in front of Mykola Yakimovich, 71, standing in slippers. He has decided to stay in Chassiv Iar, but his wife, their son, two cats and two dogs go to his sister-in-law in Dopropillia, north of Pokrovsk. ” I do not want to leave. I lived my life, so my son has to live his. […] Since 2014, a lot of bad things have happened. It’s better to move them away from here, ”he says before embracing his family and the vehicle drives away.
To leave her house, Lydia Ivanovna, 62, walks with a cane and the arm support of Andriï, a Save Ukraine volunteer. Stray dogs hover around her, puzzled by the sudden commotion, while a friend and another volunteer help her carry her bags. “I leave my house and all my possessions because I have no choice. I’m old, I’m sick, so what am I going to do? I cry every day,” she laments.