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Four months into war, more Ukrainians decide to flee besieged areas

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After four months of Russian aggression on Ukraine, Lilya, a mother of 22 from Bakhmut in the east, decided it was time to leave the region.

"It is extremely difficult. It is very difficult.

"How can we live?" Shelling. It is becoming very frightening. We made the decision to leave."

Russia's brutal pummelling in the Donbas region, which includes the Donetsk, Luhansk regions in Ukraine's east, and south, has caused some people to flee their homes.

The United Nations estimates that over one-third of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes since the Russian invasion began on February 24th. There are seven million internally displaced people and five million fleeing the country.

While some Ukrainian refugees have returned home since Russian forces shifted their efforts away from Kyiv to try to take control of Donbas, many families from that region are now fleeing.

Viktoria, 36, from Krematorsk (a city in northern Donetsk), said that she is a single parent with three children. "The only way to survive is humanitarian aid."

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"I am leaving the children with them so that I can get child support."

According to the United Nations, 13 million Ukrainians remain stranded or unable leave affected areas due to increased security risks, destruction and loss of roads, and lack of resources.

Serhiy Gaidai, Luhansk Governor, stated that evacuations from Sievierodonetsk were impossible due to fighting. Russia claimed it had also taken control of Metyolkine just southeast of the city.

Lyuba, 57, said that there was no electricity, gas, or water and she fled a small village in the Bakhmut area.

We decided to leave because "life is very difficult." We did it to save our lives and the lives of our family members, as well as our own lives.

Bakhmut is a city situated about 55 km (34 miles) southwest from the twin cities Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk. There, fierce fighting continues. Residents of Bakhmut have been subject to constant Russian shelling.

Mark Poppert (a Nebraska volunteer for RefugEase, an organization based in the UK) said that "our mission here is to transport people from the frontline area out to safer areas." He was also directing people at Pokrovsk's train station.

Kyiv called the battle for Donbas "one of Europe's most brutal battles"

Moscow describes its actions as a "special military operations" that aims to disarm Ukraine and defend it from fascists. The West and Ukraine insist that the fascist allegation was baseless, and that the war is an unprovoked aggression.

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