Visuals by David Guttenfelder
Text by Dzvinka Pinchuk
Aug. 13, 2025
As Russian forces push forward in Ukraine, residents are fleeing at a quickening pace.
The Ukrainian authorities announced mandatory evacuations on Wednesday in settlements around Dobropillia, six miles from the frontline in eastern Ukraine.
Residents had already been streaming out of Dobropillia. When we visited in late July, evacuating families arrived in vans or on battered bicycles in wilting heat.
A lifetime of memories were reduced to what they could carry. They waited, unsure where they would go next.
The danger does not end when the evacuees board buses. The road out of Dobropillia remains under Russian surveillance and is vulnerable to attacks.
Only vehicles equipped with drone-jamming systems are used for evacuation now.
Viktor, 61, spends his mornings installing anti-drone nets over the road.
“It’s hard work, but well paid — and it’s something that matters,” he said.
About 250,000 civilians, including some 18,500 children, remain in the Ukraine-controlled part of the Donetsk region.
Paulina, 10, was evacuating with her father, Viktor, and her brother to the city of Pavlograd.
Viktor said, “We hear the explosions all the time, but the real danger is that they’re getting closer.”
It is mainly older people, the sick or injured, or families with young children who are evacuating.
Many have grown used to the dangers posed by Russian shelling. But the swarms of drones that now menace the skies are frightening, and they have complicated already dangerous evacuations.
“We were supposed to leave yesterday, but it didn’t work out,” said Vasyl Shvedov, 44, his leg wrapped in a bulky bandage as he sat on a bus.
The road out leads only to more uncertainty for the evacuees.
One afternoon, a yellow bus moved cautiously as it left town. From behind dirt-streaked windows, pale faces gazed out with blank expressions.
An older woman sobbed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her dark gray shirt.
A little girl waved and made silly faces as if it were just a summer trip. No one knew if they would ever see their homes again.
Additional reporting by Marc Santora.
