Ukrainians seek special police unit's help to flee as fighting around Pokrovsk intensifies

(21 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pokrovsk, Ukraine - 20 December 2024
1. Wide of road and sign reading: ‘Pokrovsk’
2. Close of Ukrainian flag attached to sign
3. Shot from inside vehicle of White Angels group as they drive through Pokrovsk on their way to evacuate people
4. Member of White Angels as they approach woman who is preparing to leave
5. Dog
6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Maryna, no last name given, local resident:
“It's hard to leave home.”
7. Pokrovsk resident, Nina Nilolaevna, 75, wheeling her shopping trolley behind her as she walks past closed shops
8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Nina Nilolaevna, 75, local resident:
Nilolaevna: “The war is going on, the Russians are capturing Pokrovsk, so will the Donetsk region go to them?”
Reporter: “Let's hope not.”
Nilolaevna: “God help us, God help us.”
Reporter: “And what about you? Are you very worried?”
Nilolaevna: “Very, very...”
Reporter: “Tell me, how?”
Nilolaevna: “How? I want to stay in Ukraine, not in Russia. I don't know why (Vladimir) Putin needs this. But we want to live in Ukraine.”
9. Nilolaevna walking away
10. Broken bridge in Pokrovsk
11. Group of people sitting at a bus stop with one woman waiting to be evacuated
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Elena Kuznetsova, local resident:
“I'm sorry about everything. I'm leaving with nothing at all. And everything that was in the house I got on my own. I was supposed to leave on November 11, the White Angels (police unit) were going to take me away. But on the 10th they called me and I refused. And on November 11, my husband died. Today is the 40th day.”
13. White Angels officer speaking to Ivan (no last name given) who is waiting to be evacuated
14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Ivan, 70, Local resident:
“Earlier, when I was leaving at 5 a.m., it came down 15 meters away from me, a funnel formed. I only managed to get into the barn. 5 windows, a door, a roof, everything was smashed. My wife is paralyzed, I was receiving insulin. And now I've come (to collect medicine) and cover the windows. There's nothing else to do. Now I'm leaving. I took my cats with me.”
15. Kuznetsova hugging man, wiping away tears and then getting into minivan to leave
16. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Illia Maltsev, White Angels Police officer:
“The situation in the city is getting worse every day. What makes our work more difficult is that in places where we used to be able to drive to the area and pick up people safely, now we are under the attack of drones, artillery and guided bombs and it is very difficult to get there. People wait until the last moment and then call us to help them. There have been cases when people have left these places on their own, because there is no way to contact them. So when they reach the nearest settlements, they call us, and then we go with the guys and provide assistance and evacuation.”
16. Van carrying evacuees backing out and driving off
STORYLINE:
As fighting around the key eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk intensifies, many residents who are facing winter under constant bombardment and without regular water, electricity or gas supplies are seeking refuge in nearby towns with the help of a special police unit.

The White Angels group of police and volunteers arrange their daily evacuation plan, go door to door and coordinate their pick-ups so they can enter and leave the city as quickly as possible due to the continuous threat of attack.




Local resident Ivan, who gave only his first name, described how he had been woken up at 5 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) Friday when an unidentified weapon landed just 15 meters away from him.



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