As Russian forces push to capture Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, residents of the city are facing near constant shelling. Forced to find refuge in basements and sleep in the bitter cold, many are taking the difficult decision to leave. FRANCE 24 met with Angelina and Maxim, a young Ukrainian couple whose flat was blown up earlier this week.
“I was deafened. I was hit on my right side by the shockwave and I was limping,” Angelina recounts, referring to the blast that destroyed her home a few days ago.
The building collapsed after being struck by a Russian missile. Most residents, trapped in the basement where they took shelter, died.
Like many residents of Bakhmut, Angelina and her boyfriend Maxim have decided to evacuate their city. Thanks to a volunteer-run evacuation bus, the couple will head for Dnipro, 260 kilometres west of Bakhmut, to start a new life.
“I want to live, not just survive,” Angelina told FRANCE 24 reporters on the ground.
Of the more than 70,000 people who lived in Bakhmut before the war, only 2,000 to 5,000 are left.
Click on the player to watch the full report.
