Refugees Pile up as War Encroaches on Half of Ukraine

Russia's attack on Ukraine has not stopped. Fighting is still ongoing in eastern Ukraine.

KOMPAS/HARRY SUSILO

Refugees queue to receive aid from the Charitas Mariupol organization in Zaporizhia, about 650 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday (21/6/2022). As a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine, many residents of a number of cities fled to Zaporizhia, mostly from Mariupol.

ZAPORIZHIA, KOMPAS – Russia launched attacks on almost all of Ukraine’s southern and eastern provinces. As artillery and air strikes rain down and gunfights on the streets drag on, refugees continue to pile up in areas still controlled by Kyiv. Some refugees have yet to receive government aid.

Martial law authorities in Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa reported cruise missile strikes. Meanwhile, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson also saw a combination of artillery strikes, air strikes and urban warfare on Tuesday (21/6/2022).

Luhansk military commander Sergei Gaidai said Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk are being bombarded relentlessly. “Lysychansk is being destroyed. We are still investigating the number of victims. Enemy planes continue to attack. They again attacked the destroyed bridge between Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk,” he said in writing.

At least 10 buildings, several houses and a police post were targeted. “We cannot confirm the number of victims. It is too dangerous to leave the house,” he added.

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Other cities and districts in Luhansk were also targeted. Battles are still ongoing in Sievierodonetsk. The Azot chemical plant and its surrounding areas have become the fiercest battleground in Sievierodonetsk. “Since yesterday, things have been very difficult. Enemy planes are flying non-stop,” Gaidai said.

In Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian troops only hold the vicinity of the Azot chemical plant while the rest of the city is already under Russian control.

Oleg Syniehubov, Kharkiv’s military commander, said the Kharkiv industrial area and several residential complexes have been targeted for attacks. “We urged residents not to leave their homes as it is very dangerous,” he said in a written statement.

Kharkiv police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko said that Kharkiv commuter train was also targeted on early Tuesday morning. “Three trains were damaged and an employee of the train company was slightly injured,” he said.

Kharkiv authorities are monitoring the flow of refugees from the easternmost province of Ukraine. “[The Russians] are trying to instigate panic,” he said.

Since yesterday, things have been very difficult. Enemy planes are flying non-stop

Meanwhile, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenko, said Russian troops again thwarted Ukraine’s attempt to retake the island. The landing of Ukrainian troops there was preceded by an attack from two Bayraktar TB2 drones and another drone.

The Global Hawk RQ-4, a US reconnaissance plane, was also monitored by Moscow as it approached the island south of Odesa, which Russia has been occupying since the first day of the war. Moscow also tracked attacks from Tochka-U missiles and rockets from the Uragan multi-barreled launcher. “All were destroyed with Pantsir and TOR,” he said, referring to two types of Russian air-defense artillery.

Moscow also said that Bayraktar TB2 was used to attack an offshore oil drilling rig in the Black Sea. The BK-1 and Kryim-1 platforms were the targets of the attack.

Konashenko confirmed that there had been a series of Russian attacks on Odesa. The targets were the M777 gun carrier squad on Kubansky Island and the S-300 arhanud squad at Ochakov and Tuzla. “Russia will continue to attack all Ukrainian arms sites. The M777 is our easy target,” he said.

AFP/ANATOLII STEPANOV

Evacuees from the places of battles in Donetsk and Luhansk regions board a train outgoing to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, at a railway station in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region on June 15, 2022, as the Russian-Ukraine war enters its 112th day.

The attacks in Luhansk and Donetsk were said to have been focused in areas where Ukrainian troops and arms are concentrated. Russia used air-to-ground missiles in a series of attacks and also used field artillery to attack several Ukrainian troop positions.

Konashenko admitted that Russia was trying to separate Ukrainian troops on the frontlines from other units. Thus, they would run out of supplies and give up on the resistance. According to Moscow, a growing number of Ukrainian militias and troops are refusing to fight due to increasingly difficult conditions, including in Azot.

Refugees

Gaidai said evacuation efforts from Azot were still ongoing. There are at least 568 civilians taking shelter in the factory. “They refuse to be evacuated. We tried to persuade them on Thursday,” he said.

Apart from civilians, the factory also housed militias and Ukrainian troops. Gaidai has asked the commander inside the factory to video civilians stating their refusal to be evacuated from the site.

Evacuation efforts are also ongoing in other areas of Luhansk. The Luhansk administration and the Ukrainian railway company are providing free transport up to the Donetsk-Dnipro border. From there, they can head to another city.

Some Ukrainian refugees are in Zaporizhia. Ludmila Citcera, head of the Zaporizhia branch of Caritas Mariupol, said there were 150,000 refugees in the city.

This figure is even higher if considering the number of refugees throughout the province. Many humanitarian agencies have been operating in Zaporizhia since the war broke out. Moreover, charities owned by wealthy Ukrainians also operate in Zaporizhia.

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Caritas Mariupol provides health services, psychological and legal assistance and also distributes drug and food aid. There is also free transport to Ukrainian borders shared with its neighbors to the west and south. “We help all refugees from many Ukrainian provinces, not only those from Luhansk or Mariupol,” said Ludmila Citcera.

Until 24 February 2022, the agency has been based in Mariupol, Donetsk. The war forced the agency to flee to Zaporizhia along with thousands of others from Mariupol.

Residents of Zaporizhia also take advantage of Caritas Mariupol’s services, such as Valentina Shramko (69). She said that she lost her home near the Zaporizhia-Kherson border. The area is included in the Russian-occupied part of Zaporizhia.

Before fleeing to Zaporizhia, Valentina Shramko was trapped for a month in an underground sanctuary. “By some miracle I was able to make it here safely,” she said.

Now, she is staying at a Zaporizhia resident’s home. During the war, Ukrainian citizens have shared their homes with refugees for an indefinite period of time.

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.