The town of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region is one of the hotspots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the enemy advances, people are evacuating the city, once home to 60,000 people. DW witnessed how this is happening.
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00:00The front line is rapidly approaching Pokrovsk.
00:04Fighting is underway less than 10 kilometers from here.
00:08People are leaving the city en masse.
00:11Authorities are urging people to hurry.
00:13The last train will depart on September 11.
00:17For 85-year-old Lyudmila Kurylivna, this is her second experience of war.
00:22She still remembers the German Nazi occupation.
00:27I was only three years old, but I remember everything as if it were now, how they led
00:41us to the station, Germans on one side, dogs on the other, so no one could escape, like
00:50in the movies.
00:55They loaded us into a cattle car and wanted to take us to a concentration camp.
01:02Then the partisans destroyed the railway and shouted, run, wherever you can.
01:10Residents are now leaving for safer cities, where they'll stay with friends, family or
01:14in state-provided housing.
01:19There are significantly fewer people in Pokrovsk now.
01:23Many have been evacuated.
01:26At least 300 people leave daily, some on their own, or with assistance for those who
01:31need help.
01:36The White Angels are helping people evacuate from hard-hit areas.
01:41But not everyone is willing to leave, despite the danger.
01:47My mother left, my son left.
01:50I don't want to go anywhere.
01:52You know, being in a foreign land is foreign.
01:54We're not needed anywhere.
01:56I've worked abroad.
01:57I know we're not needed anywhere.
02:02Of course, it's hard to leave your home.
02:08People have built their lives here.
02:10But the fear of leaving is greater than the fear of death.
02:18I can say people are more afraid to leave than to die in their homes.
02:24Pokrovsk is turning from a once safe city into a front-line town.
02:28Supermarkets and banks have closed.
02:31Produce and clothes can still be bought at street markets or small shops.
02:38This beauty salon is still giving haircuts.
02:42We can still live for now.
02:44If it gets worse, we'll leave.
02:48Nearby Ukrainian troops are preparing for a prolonged defence of Pokrovsk.
02:53New recruits will soon head to the front.
03:01There are a lot of drones, a lot of airstrikes.
03:05Enemy tanks and artillery are firing at our positions.
03:11They have not advanced on our line.
03:14We're holding it, and we're not letting the enemy get closer.
03:19While Ukraine pushes on with its invasion of Russia's Kursk region, this company is
03:23still waiting for reinforcements.
03:27Kursk is fine, but we shouldn't forget about Pokrovsk.
03:32We also need people here.
03:35The current situation demands more ammunition and drones.
03:41After all, this is our homeland, while Kursk is the aggressor's territory.