“He was going to make a forced evacuation”
Vitaliy Barabash gave an interview to Politico. saidthis front line can wait for Avdiivka. Although the city has urged residents to leave from the end of February, according to him, about 2,500 people, including about 80 children – about 10% of the municipality’s population – are still hiding from the bombardment in basements without ventilation, lighting and heating.
“I would even do the forced evacuation of communities like ours. A state of war means restrictions on rights – this is war. It doesn’t have to be crazy, but to some extent you have to make decisions for people. Especially when it comes to children,” Barabash told the broadcast.
Meanwhile, he thinks it is “wrong” for officers, soldiers and volunteers to “risk their lives” to help people “who have the opportunity to go elsewhere”. The mayor noted that “he has disagreements with the voters on this issue”.
“I also have to go around and convince people, I have three kids and what will my kids do if something happens to me?” The mayor of Avdiivka was angry.
He believes that the longer people who are cut off from the world in bomb shelters live, the harder it is for them to decide to leave.
“Some say they have nowhere to go, no financial means, or that they got through 2014-15 and will now live. Some say they already left and came back because they ran out of money. And I can’t deny that some are waiting for Russia’s arrival,” said Barabash.
“I don’t know where the money will come from”
Political journalists also interviewed people who had difficulties during the evacuation. Therefore, pastor Oleg Tkachenko told the publication that people who left their homes were not insured against robbery, they “lost everything.” According to him, “he himself suffered.”
“In Ukraine, there is no mechanism for assessing the value of lost or looted property and work, let alone providing compensation. (Deputy Prime Minister Irina – socialbites.ca) Vereshchuk promises that at least until this winter, free housing will be provided, pensions and other payments will continue. However, it is not clear where the funds will come from.
The authors of the material noted that in the “nearly abandoned ghost towns” of the DPR, many “feel really abandoned and angry” at attempts to relocate them. While some buildings are unaffected, they don’t have water or natural gas, so locals “suspect that utilities have been shut down to encourage people to leave”.
Many also hope that the war will bypass their homes.
The Ukrainian government is beginning to do what it calls “forced evictions” from the country’s most contested areas.Kiev is undertaking, as Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk puts it, “the largest exodus of people in the history of an independent Ukrainian state.” Unable to provide security or basic services to some 750,000 people in the most intense areas of conflict, the government is now forcing them to take action.
According to the publication, more than 12 million Ukrainians have been displaced since February 24, mostly within the country. The government said it expects another 220,000 people to be evacuated from the DNR before winter begins. Vereshchuk said the evacuation order would be extended to an additional 500,000 people living in areas under Russian control. Among them are the inhabitants of the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkiv regions.
Attack on Avdiivka
According to open sources, Avdiivka is located in the north of Donetsk and is part of the Donetsk-Makeevka agglomeration. Since 2014 the city is on the front line, now it is controlled by Ukrainian troops.
Locations around Avdiivka provide control of the northern foothills of Donetsk and Yasinovataya, as well as the southern foothills of Horlivka. In addition, the Avdiivka Coke and Chemical Plant is located in the settlement (it is engaged in the processing of natural fuels, mainly coal, into coca – a solid fuel for iron-smelting blast furnaces – and other valuable products), one of the largest enterprises in this sector in Europe.
Currently, Russia and its allies are advancing on Avdiivka. The defensive line under the Sands settlement was broken, the settlements of Marinka and Krasnogorovka were attacked. On August 18, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russian aviation destroyed the 37th battalion of the 56th motor infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Avdiivka.
“The loss of personnel has exceeded 60 percent. The Ministry of Defense said that the command of the Donetsk operational-tactical group has withdrawn the remnants of the battalion for reconstruction.
On the same day, the commander of the howitzer battery of the 1st Slavic brigade with the call sign Medved told RIA Novosti that the Armed Forces were rising in the direction of Avdiivka with artillery support of units of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Ukraine was used as an observation point and firing point.
“We are performing the assigned tasks to destroy the enemy near Avdiivka and protect our troops and infantry. Our forces captured the vent of the Butovka mine. Of course, the fighting there was heavy, but the infantry coped with its task, ”said he.