Posted on 08/05/2014 3:40:19 AM PDT by wetphoenix
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - The once-bustling leafy boulevards of central Donetsk are now deserted but one place where there is almost certain to be a crowd is the rebel-held city's ornate Stalin-era railway station.
As the boom of mortar fire rocks the mining hub of one million daily, ever more residents are packing up and fleeing a tightening government blockade.
"They are bombing -- that's why we are getting far away from here," said Lyubov, a grey-eyed woman with her hair in a bun, who fled her home in a nearby town.
"We left everything and ran away," she said, adding that she was headed for the government-held city of Dnipropetrovsk, some 200 kilometres (124 miles) to the west, where her son and sister are.
Nearby families huddled around piles of bags and even a canary in a cage as they waited anxiously to make their escape.
"Our house burnt down and our neighbour's too. The whole street was bombed. We are going to Moscow, to my daughter's place," said Yury, a tired-looking moustachioed man, who had arrived with family and neighbours from the town of Shakhtarsk.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
That lady should to go to Slovyansk. All quiet there now. As we see there, nobody dies in Donbas when there are no murdering Russians there.
Funny how that works.
True.
They are all running to the rebel held rail station, and fleeing the Ukrainian army/militia approach. That’s odd, I’ve read again and again that they are all captives awaiting rescue from “terrorists”.
No, Slavyansk was shelled and captured (oops, “liberated”) by the Nazi forces a few weeks ago. They wouldn’t dare head up there.
I thought Russia was the villain here, why they’re fleeing to Russia instead of going west
People are fleeing in both directions. One could expect that those with more pro-Russian attitudes are more likely to head to Russia while those with more pro-Ukranian attitudes are more likely to head to government-held territory, but there’s other factors at hand such as resources individual families have in each possible area to flee to. Also it should be noted that a lot of the pro-Ukranian side has long ago fled rebel-held areas out of fear of retribution.
Where the civilians go is mostly a practical decision. Those with family or a place to stay in Russia will go there. The “refugee camps” built in Russia are empty or being used by Russian combatants.
Name a source. Just one.
I don’t blame people for leaving cities where the Kiev army is attacking. They seem to kill more civilians than rebels. Isn’t that a war crime?
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