“Totally in panic: Witnessing Ukraine's Luhansk, leaving the country

When the war began eight years ago, Natalia, 28, simply hid in the cellar whenever there were gunshots and nearby artillery bombings.

“Now is different. Now I fear for children”, she said, holding on to her three-and-a-half-year-old son and her daughter five-and-a-half years old, as she left the town of Luhansk dealt with separatists backed by Russia since 2014 to the territory under government control.

“Running away permanently”, she added.

The Ukraine's long war, held in the eastern region of Donbas, could be on the verge of a major escalation, with over 130,000 Russian troops deployed near Ukraine's borders and with increased tensions between Russia and Kiev on one side, and the West on the other.

The surrounded and many guards crossing in Stanytsya Luhanska has been problematic to pass. For residents of the town of Luhansk, controlled by separatists, and for areas controlled by the Government in the north, it has caused problems, but it is the crossing citizens must use. There they show passports and residence permits, just as they would if they crossed an international border.

Now, though, the feeling is different.

Due to the intensifying of fighting and the growing fear of a new Russian invasion, but also the false claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian government is conducting <x0genocide” in Donba, separatist leaders in Luhansk and Donetsk on February 18th ordered mass evacuation to Russia. They later announced they have ordered general mobilization for men between the ages of 18 and 45 and stopped them from leaving the territories.

Bearing witness, separatist leaders have claimed Ukrainian government forces would soon launch a major offensive. Kiev has denied that there are such plans, and Western officials have accused Moscow and separatists of planning to set a pretext for a new Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On February 20, a steady stream of people went through this crossing. They have not responded to calls for evacuation and have decided to stay in Ukraine. These people said they were leaving their homes because of increased violence, especially in the city of Luhansk. Some said they were leaving forever.

Of course we're scared. Everybody's scared. No one has any idea what will happen”, Anya, an accountant, who along with her 12-year-old son, Danilin and Six-year-old Artyom, were waiting to meet with family members.

“What would you do in such a situation?”, she asked.

She said moving to Stanytsya Luhanska has always been a problem. The passage here became even more problematic when authorities imposed the restriction that citizens could go through only once a month as part of efforts to prevent the further spread of the coronary, since the situation with the pandemic has been more problematic in territories controlled by separatists.

Near the crossing, a number of stores sell food and medicine. Across the street there are containers where rapid tests are conducted for COVID-19.

Anya said that she and her husband, who is agronomim, had initially not planned to leave or evacuate from their residence in Luhansk, as both were still paid for their work, though not much. But everything changed on February 19th when separatist administrations in Luhansk and Donetsk stopped all men between the ages of 18 and 45 from leaving, and one day later they ordered general mobilization.

Authorities have also ordered that schools be closed on February 21st, but according to her, this decision has not made much difference. Schools have developed mainly online teaching in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“has been in vain. The kids don't learn anything”.

Therefore, they decided to send their sons to live with their grandparents in the village of Bilocurakyne, located about 150 km away from government-controlled territories, Anya said. She communicates with them via the Internet and hopes to see them within a month when she is allowed to cross the crossing again. Unless we end up in total hell”, she said.

When she passed this crossing to visit her boys, Anya said there were dozens of explosions and shots in her neighborhood. She said it is impossible to say who was behind the violence. But she said that she and her family have generally felt that the whole world had forgotten this conflict and that people are still trying to live in this area.

No one wants us here, not Kiev, not Moscow”, she said. I'm glad that maybe in Europe or the United States, somewhere they're reading about us”. /Full text at REL.