Numerous people from Kupjansk are to be brought to safety from the Russian attacks – but not everyone wants to go. The authorities therefore do a lot of persuasion, but are also willing to enforce evacuations by force.
The small town of Kupjansk in eastern Ukraine is currently around nine kilometers from the front. According to Ukrainian military information, eight Russian attack groups are attacking in his direction – and intense fighting is raging. Russian artillery and airstrikes also kill and injure civilians.
Ljubov Anatolyivna, however, cannot bring ten horses away from Kupyansk. “My kids scold me, but I’m not going anywhere,” she says. She is at home here, there is gas and a wood boiler in her house, and she also has a supply of firewood. “If there is no direct impact, I will survive.”
“An evacuation that affects everyone”
The elderly lady with the beige sun hat is standing between shelled-up buildings in Kupyansk, where shopping, gardening or a harmless walk to the neighbor’s are life-threatening. The responsible authorities have therefore made a bitter decision: more than 50 communities in the Kupyansk district are to be brought to safety.
However, according to Oleksandr Skoryk, a negative attitude like that of Ljubov Anatloiivna is not uncommon. The deputy of the Kharkiv regional parliament states that those who wanted to leave have long since left. Some would ask for time to pack, others would categorically refuse to evacuate. “But unfortunately, people cannot decide whether to stay or not. This is an evacuation that affects everyone,” he says.
Hotlines for urgent questions
Anyone who does not want to leave despite the danger must sign a declaration that he or she remains at their own risk. But the Ukrainian government, volunteers, and civil and military authorities rely on persuasion when it comes to evacuations. What can I take with me, where will I live, how long will I have to go and who will pay for all of this? For burning questions like these, there are hotlines whose employees are supposed to answer everything, according to the head of the military administration in Kupyansk Andriy Besedin.
People could call there and leave questions about the evacuation, which would then be processed and answered. People would be picked up by volunteers and taken to a regional center where they would meet social workers, psychologists and volunteers. “After the evacuation, people decide whether they want to stay in the city of Kharkiv or move to other regions in western Ukraine,” said Besedin.
Hundreds of children in Kupyansk
It will still be difficult for the police, non-governmental organizations or authorities to finally get people to come along. An estimated 12,000 people are to be evacuated around Kupyansk, including around 600 children.
The head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleh Synegubov, seems determined to push this through. There are still people who remain in their villages, even though they are being shelled every day, Synegubov said. More than 30 people have already been evacuated in the last two days, and there are still 523 children in the city of Kupyansk.
“The evacuation is a preventive measure, because our soldiers are in their positions, but the enemy is attacking the civilian population,” says Synegubov. Almost every day there are air raids on border settlements, which unfortunately usually cause great destruction and deaths among the civilian population.
Evacuations against the will of parents
However, children and young people under the age of 18 may not be evacuated without the consent and accompaniment of their parents or legal guardians. The fact that people want to stay in their places despite Russian attacks and nearby fighting is nothing new. Even in heavily contested cities like Bakhmut, Soledar or Sievierodonetsk, pale, traumatized children had to stay in cellars for weeks before they could be taken away.
In such cases, the authorities can be involved, but that is gray theory. In the face of Russian attacks on the people, psychologists, police officers, volunteers or representatives of military and civilian administrations have no choice but to convince the parents that these children are the future in Ukraine.
The Kharkiv regional military administration is now preparing a decision that will allow the forced evacuation of almost 800 children from Kupyansk and surrounding villages, Synegubov said in the evening in Suspilne. According to this, children can also be evacuated against the will of their parents.