Like a nightmare that begins again: On the Russian border, civilians leave breakaway areas in eastern Ukraine after a general evacuation order, at a time when tensions are at their peak, raising fears of an active resumption of fighting.
Elena Sokela, a 40-year-old social worker, has just crossed the Russian border at the important Avilo-Uspenka crossing point, near the Russian town of Matveev Kurgan, with her 16-year-old son.
She hails from the breakaway “republic” of Donetsk, which has been at war with Kiev since 2014. “We heard bangs, explosions,” she told AFP, as shootings and incidents on the frontlines increased in recent hours.
“We decided to go to his grandmother’s house (in Russia) where it’s quiet. We’ve had enough in 2014, we don’t want to wait until the last moment, it’s better to leave early,” she continues.
“We will go back”, assures the resident of Chakhtiorsk, a city east of the separatist capital of Donetsk.
On Friday night, the self-proclaimed separatist “republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk called for the evacuation of civilians, saying they feared an attack from Kiev.
Accusations rejected by Ukraine and Westerners who accuse Russia, which supports separatists and which has gathered tens of thousands of troops on its borders, of seeking a pretext to launch a military operation against Kiev.
This morning, in Avilo-Uspenka, civilian cars from the “republic” of Donetsk were lining up, as were about twenty empty buses waiting to enter the breakaway zone, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
The local Russian emergency services, which declared a state of emergency in the region, opened a camp near this crossing point with more than 15 large tents to accommodate the evacuees. They remain empty for now.
– “General mobilization” –
Alexander Romanov, a 68-year-old pensioner, crossed the Russian border with his wife from the city of Yenakievo: “There are traffic jams for five kilometers” before the border, he says.
According to separatist authorities in Donetsk, more than 6,600 people have been evacuated since Friday.
His colleagues in the “republic” of Lugansk announced the evacuation of more than 13,500 civilians.
In 2014, when fighting with Ukrainian forces began, separatists had already carried out a mass evacuation of women, children and the elderly to Russia, while many localities were under bombs.
According to Moscow, more than 600,000 people from breakaway areas have received Russian passports, which should make evacuations even easier.
This Saturday, the “republics” of Donetsk and Lugansk also called for the “general mobilization” of men aged 18 to 55 in the face of a possible “aggression” from Kiev.
Lioubov Rodoman confirms that her husband, a separatist reserve officer, has received a request from authorities to stay.
The 57-year-old nurse has just crossed the border from the breakaway zone to “do business” in Russia, but plans to return home today.
“I’m a caregiver, I can’t give up on children, I didn’t give up in 2014 and I won’t give up now”, she swears.
Russian border guards said, however, that they would not let anyone cross in the opposite direction.
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