Lives are being bundled into bags after Ukrainian officials gave people in the city two weeks to leave
Children wave from a train. The head of the city’s military administration says 4,300 people, including 1,000 children, have left since 10 August. Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The Guardian
Though Maryna is sure she is doing the right thing, it is not easy to give up what you know – “I just feel pain,” she says – and she worries that many other local people have not decided to quit. “Still a lot of people are staying, and they do not understand they could die. It is too dangerous, especially if you have children.” It is not clear what life awaits them in Rivne, where they will be received as displaced people.
Fortunately, the sounds of war are occasional and distant in Pokrovsk itself on the day the Guardian visits, and the city is busy, with many people on the streets, whether staying or going. Serhii Dobryak, the head of its military administration, says 4,300 people, including 1,000 children, have left since 10 August, but for the moment the bulk of the population remains, about 58,000, reflecting the fact the Russian advance has caught the city by surprise.
The train leaves at 2.10pm. It is a special extended train that runs every eight days, with 600 evacuees, Dobryak says, heading for Rivne this time. Displaced adults are eligible for 2,000 hryvnia a month to help with resettlement and a further 3,000 for each child, though they will end up in dormitories or other shared accommodation of uncertain quality.
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