Coats and backpacks ready to flee, eastern Ukraine prepares for possible Russian attack

A family photo, a quilt and food”: in Krasnogorivka (east of Ukraine), Maria, nine years old, prepares her backpack that she will have to carry if there is a Russian attack, while her mother watches.

Planning for a possible evacuation has become routine for this large family, who reside in a multi-story building partially destroyed by mortar shells.

Since 2014, Krasnogorivka has known the war against pro-Russian separatists, supported by Moscow. Despite a relative calm, sporadic gunshots continue to plague the small town.

“The building was directly hit four times. We are afraid all the time. Our neighbor was injured by shrapnel three months ago,” says Natalia Chanovska, a 45-year-old mother of six. In her apartment there are bullet holes in the walls.

“Everyone is afraid”

For eight years, this family has not had gas and heating, so they installed a traditional stove fueled with wood, which they collect nearby.

And, Natalia is afraid that the problems will not end here. “The front line is very close. Everyone is afraid, and so are we”, she confides.

Currently, the more than 100,000 Russian soldiers deployed on the border with their country increase the anguish of women, who live in the epicenter of the conflict, which has caused some 14,000 deaths in eight years, according to the UN.

In this city with just 15,000 inhabitants, the authorities have asked individuals, schools and hospitals to prepare their shelters.

Thus, for example, the main hospital in Krasnogorivka renews the water in its shelter, a place that dates back to Soviet times.

“We can shelter neighbors and hospital staff in the event of an attack. If the bombing starts, we’ll set up beds there. There is room for up to 280 people,” said Sergei Fedenko, director of the hospital.

When the war began, in 2014, many inhabitants took refuge there for more than three months. But, currently the situation is complicated by COVID-19.

“We cannot transfer the sick who need oxygen to the shelter. It is not possible to move them in the event of a firefight. I don’t know what is the worst for them”, says Tetiana, a nurse who does not want to reveal her last name; whose opinion she is contrary to that of the authorities.

For her part, Ludmila Isaichenko, 73, a patient with a neurological disease, is fatalistic. If Russia attacks, she will refuse to go down to the shelter.

“If they shoot I plan to lie down and not move, no matter what happens. But, I am permanently afraid, at the slightest noise, when someone uncovers a bottle, I have the impression that they are bombing”, she points out.

Money, passport and leave

Ilia Jelnovatsky, a 16-year-old student, shows the hatch in her kitchen, which conceals the entrance to a basement shelter. “He has saved our lives a thousand times,” he says.

He then shows his provisions, consisting of jars of tomatoes and cucumbers.

“In case of a Russian attack”, initially the teenager and his relatives plan to flee, but not forever. “We have to take the money, the passport and leave. But, we will come back”, he assures.

He even has a plan in case of an evacuation, but he is hopeful that fears will not materialize and it will not need to be put into action, because there have been few serious shootings since the beginning of the year.

However, this is not enough for Natalia Chanovska and her brood. “If everything restarts, we will have to take refuge in the basement, where we do not have water or electricity. Life here is very hard, it worries me”, she adds.