Ukrainians face painful choice of leaving or staying as Russian forces advance on town

The frontlines in Ukraine’s east are long and deadly. As Russian and Ukrainian forces hammer each other, civilians are caught in between. As we now too often see in war, it is the civilians who sometimes suffer the most. In this case, people face agonizing choices: to stay, and face the unknown, or flee. Special Correspondent Jack Hewson reports from Eastern Ukraine.
Geoff Bennett:
The front lines in Ukraine’s east are long and deadly, but all along them, as Russian and Ukrainian forces hammer each other day in and day out, civilians are caught in between.
And as we now too often see in war, it’s the civilians who sometimes suffer the most, in this case, one of the most agonizing choices, to stay and face the unknown or flee.
Special correspondent Jack Hewson reports from Eastern Ukraine.
Jack Hewson:
The wind is blowing against Ukraine in the deserted streets of Myrnohrad, a name which means Peace Town. The familiar signs of Russia’s destructive advance are everywhere, ruins, rubble, and the distant sound of shellfire.
Russia is on the brink of taking this town two miles east of the vital strategic hub of Pokrovsk, but there is little left to occupy; 28,000 people have been evacuated from here in the last two weeks alone, and that’s because the Russians have been making gains towards here at 300 meters to a kilometer a day, the fastest gains they have made since the original invasion in 2022.
As so often in this war, it is civilians that suffer most. At the daily evacuation bus are some of the last to leave. Among them is Inna. She already escaped bombardment in Avdiivka, a city 25 miles southeast that fell in February.
Inna, Displaced From Avdiivka, Ukraine (through interpreter):
After I survived all those horrible things, when I was woken up by the glass that was shattering and falling on me, I’m not ready to feel that fear again. When I heard the shots here, my body jerked each time uncontrollably. My nervous system can’t stand that. I’m scared. I just want to wake up and see the sunshine and hear birds twittering, you know? I want silence.
Jack Hewson:
It’s scenes like these that Inna is fleeing. In the Pokrovsk area, shelling has terrorized civilians in recent weeks, prompting a government evacuation.
But some residents are determined to stay. We drive to the town’s southern limits to find them. Past these tank defenses, it’s open road until the front. Russians guns are just a few miles from here, and drones may be watching, so we seek cover in the back streets.
Searching for water and basic supplies, we find Valentina and Oleksandr.
Valentina, Myrnohrad, Ukraine, Resident (through interpreter):
Oh, God, this shelling. I just don’t know what to say.
Jack Hewson:
We ask them, for the all the dangers and their obvious distress, why do they choose to stay?
Oleksandr, Myrnohrad, Ukraine, Resident (through interpreter):
Let it be what it will be. We don’t have anywhere to go.
Valentina (through interpreter):
We’re old and we are afraid to lose our house.
Oleksandr (through interpreter):
Also, money is needed to leave. To rent an apartment somewhere else is too expensive, and we don’t have money for that.
Valentina (through interpreter):
It’s scary in here and we are very afraid.
Oleksandr (through interpreter):
So, let it just be what it comes.
Jack Hewson:
But while some are unable to leave, others are not inclined. The people who wait, or zhduny, a term meaning Russian sympathizer. Many don’t want to show their faces. They have turned their backs on Kyiv. Fearing judgment, they refuse to talk.
But even for those that hate the Russians, bitterness and paranoia are growing in Donbass. And back at the evac bus, there is anger at how the area’s defenses have crumbled.
Man (through interpreter):
Why weren’t the Russians stopped? Why weren’t those bastards stopped in Avdiivka? People here are afraid and suffering.
Jack Hewson:
We try to interview this man further.
Man (through interpreter):
And then rumors spread that Donbass was given up to the Russians. but that’s not the point. The point is that it was necessary to defend it in advance.
Jack Hewson:
As we put a microphone on him, he is pulled away by his wife. Even in their anger, some fear being judged pro-Russian if they are critical of the war effort.
Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kursk in August has exacerbated disquiet in Donbass. Images of Ukrainian soldiers occupying Russian towns and villages has provided the country a much-needed morale boost and challenged the narrative that Kyiv is losing.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through interpreter):
Commander in Chief Syrskyi has already reported several times on the front-line situation and on our actions to push the war out into the aggressor’s territory.
Jack Hewson:
But military analysts have questioned the wisdom of this move. While Ukraine has gained in Kursk, losses have accelerated across Donbass, notably in Vuhledar, Toretsk,Chasiv Yar, and here in the Pokrovsk area.
If Russia takes Pokrovsk, it cuts off the region’s most strategic supply route and threatens to split the eastern front in two. For now, the evacuation continues, but with Pokrovsk train station in artillery range, evacuees instead are bused 60 miles northwest.
We’re at Pavlohrad train station, where a large number of evacuees from nearby Pokrovsk and other areas under threat from the Russians have come to get out of here. There’s a general sense obviously of resentment against the invading Russian forces, but some are also angry with how the handling of the defense has gone in recent months.
As troops have been pushed to Kursk, they wonder, has it come at the expense of defending places like Pokrovsk?
We asked Mariia, who recently fled the town of Ukrainsk 75 miles southeast of here, if she supported the Kursk offensive.
Mariia, Displaced From Mariia, Ukraine (through interpreter):
I have some thoughts about that, but I don’t want to share and say them out loud. But they shouldn’t have done that.
Jack Hewson:
Outmanned and outgunned, there are only hard choices for Ukraine’s leadership. But, for Mariia, losing her home has been harder.
Mariia (through interpreter):
I never cried so hard. Even at my husband’s funeral, I wasn’t crying as hard as I was crying while leaving my city. Pardon my tears.
Jack Hewson:
Mariia and many others journey into an uncertain future. Waving goodbye to homes they may never see again.
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Jack Hewson in Donbass, Ukraine.