Inside Ukraine's front-line evacuations as Russia advances

DW (English)

Russian first-person-view drone attacks are rising in eastern Ukraine. DW accompanies the White Angels police unit as they rush families out of front-line towns in Donetsk.

Transcript

00:00This is Anton, commander of the White Angels Police Unit in Kramatorsk.

00:05Their job is to go to frontline towns and help locals to leave.

00:09Today we're evacuating a family.

00:12There's a 16-year-old boy there.

00:14The biggest danger is the FPV drones.

00:17That's the biggest threat.

00:19So the place is extremely dangerous.

00:22Attacks with first-person view drones or FPV drones,

00:26operated by Russian soldiers, have surged over the past months.

00:31Let's go, quickly.

00:32Like in October when a drone attacked them.

00:41They managed to shoot it down just as it was going to hit their vehicle.

00:47The Russians posted this online.

00:50It's the view of a drone operator as they flied into the White Angels' van.

00:54The van was damaged, but no one was badly hurt.

00:59Today's mission takes them back to the same area.

01:02Anton shows me on the map.

01:03They'll be about 11 kilometers from Russian positions.

01:08It's too risky for us to join, so we give them our GoPro camera instead.

01:15They head out. Speed is crucial.

01:17I'm now turning on the jammer.

01:19Anton's colleague monitors the drone detector.

01:28There's a drone.

01:29A bit far. Unclear signal.

01:34Three teenagers and their grandmother are already waiting.

01:39How are you?

01:40I'm all right.

01:41All good.

01:46Okay, let's hurry up.

01:48Where's the second vest?

01:50They're already shooting here.

01:52A neighbor asks if she can come too.

01:56Let me help you.

01:58Will you go yourself?

02:00I'll do it slowly.

02:02It's time to move.

02:03They have to leave as soon as they can.

02:11After an hour, they arrive safely in Kramatorsk.

02:17I saw from my window how a soldier was walking and was hit by a drone.

02:24All within three seconds.

02:26Then they shot at him.

02:28There were bullet cases all over the ground.

02:31We used to have gas and water, but now there's nothing.

02:36People used electricity for heating, but now we don't have electricity.

02:40And people are freezing.

02:41Zoya and her family will be taken to Dnipro, where they'll stay in a shelter.

02:48The next call comes soon enough.

02:51It's a bit farther from the front line, 16 kilometers away.

02:54So this time we join them.

02:56We are on our way to Dushkivka together with the White Angels unit.

03:00This is where FPV drones have been attacking especially this route more and more often in the past few days and weeks.

03:06Anton and his team risk their lives every time they embark on a mission like this.

03:11They carry out up to five evacuations a week.

03:14Anton tells me about 17,000 people still live here.

03:19They face attacks almost every day.

03:22They target civilian homes and cars with FPV drones.

03:27They can clearly see it's civilians driving, but they still hit the vehicles.

03:37The family who asks for help is ready to go.

03:43The children get protective gear.

03:45Don't cry.

03:50Who else is coming with you?

03:54This mom.

03:56All right, long farewells aren't safe here.

03:59A close family friend stays behind with her mother.

04:05Nets over the roads offer some protection from small drones.

04:10I really didn't want to leave.

04:15We are so used to living here.

04:21The final straw came when her house was attacked, she says.

04:27Even inside my apartment the doors flew off.

04:32A neighbor in our house was injured, the door fell on him.

04:38Arriving at the evacuations base, the tension is gone.

04:44It went smoothly, thank God.

04:48Without incident.

04:50Irina and her children plan to travel to Czernihiv and stay with a friend.

04:55We head west, further away from the front, to the city of Lozova.

05:06This is where evacuees from this region are registered and get help to reach shelters.

05:12Katja and her team receive up to 600 people per day in this and a second transit center nearby.

05:19They expect more if the Russian advance continues.

05:22We are ready for a large-scale evacuation if needed, ready to open new transit centers.

05:29Humanitarian organizations are also prepared to ramp up their capacity.

05:35While peace talks continue, the reality on the ground is that with every kilometer Russia takes,

05:41more families are forced to leave everything behind.

05:43Oh, that's so sweet.

05:44Oh, that's so sweet.

05:45Steve Jey, here's the vaccine.

05:46Steve Jey, here's the vaccine, I'm room to show you.

05:47You.

05:49Are you ready for the date of July 9th?

05:51Yeah.

05:52And then the next day of July 10th?

05:53We'll be waiting for the date of July 9th.

05:55We'll wait to stay outside of July 9th.

05:56We'll be waiting for the next day.

05:58We're Franz Frasco and then this is on November 9th,

05:59we're on December 9th, but we're right back down to the weather.

06:01We'll be waiting for ourselves in a few weeks from the island then we are.

06:05We'll have to be waiting for the rest of the season here and a year.

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