Kupiansk residents flee as Russian forces close in on Ukrainian city
Thousands of Kupiansk residents are being evacuated as Russian forces approach the strategic Ukrainian hub. The citys governor ordered the evacuation due to constant shelling making infrastructure repairs impossible
In Kupiansk‚ a city in northeastern Ukraine residents are leaving their homes as Russian forces get closer. Yuliia Baibak made the hard choice to move her parents after many air strikes hit her neighborhood. She told them‚ “Either we leave or theyll kill us all here“
Kupiansk is a key place that Ukraine took back from Russia about two years ago. Now‚ its under attack again as Moscow tries to push forward in eastern Ukraine. The city is only about 60 miles east of Kharkiv (Ukraines second-biggest city)
People in Kupiansk say they cant sleep because of all the shooting. Oleh Syniehubov‚ who runs the area said Russian troops are very close – just 2.5 miles from the city in some spots. He told everyone to leave because its too hard to fix things like power and water with all the attacks
Syniehubov wants all the people living on one side of the Oskil River to leave: thats about 4‚000 folks. One of them is Hanna Zorina‚ who is 90 years old. Shes leaving Kupiansk for the second time; she came back last spring but now says‚ “Things got to the point that‚ ʼThats it - the endʼ“
Either we leave or theyll kill us all here
Further south Russian troops are moving forward bit-by-bit in the Donetsk region. Theyre getting close to other important places that help Ukraine send supplies to its soldiers in the east
The situation in Kupiansk shows how hard things are for people living near the front lines. They have to choose between staying in danger or leaving their homes behind – and sometimes‚ they have to make this choice more than once
