POKROVSK, UKRAINE, August 23, 2024 — As the front line approaches Pokrovsk, Ukraine, a mandatory evacuation order has been declared for the city and surrounding towns and villages including Selydove, Myrnohrad, and Novohrodivka, effective from August 20.
The evacuation order applies to children, families with children, the elderly, and people with reduced mobility, who have been urged to flee with only their most essential possessions as active hostilities occur less than 6 miles from the city. Volunteers, rescuers, and authorities are all involved in the evacuation efforts as Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams provide medical assistance.
MSF teams are responding to the medical needs of evacuees at the train station. The majority are fleeing by train, with carriages full of entire families and pets. Ukraine 2024 © Yuliia Trofimova/MSF
According to local officials, more than 59,000 people reside in the Pokrovsk region. The majority are fleeing the war by train, with carriages fully occupied. Entire families, often accompanied by their pets, are boarding these evacuation trains.
"I left everything behind,” says Raisa Epshtein, an 83-year-old resident of Myrnohrad who recently suffered a stroke. “It’s a nightmare. At night, we trembled and flinched with every explosion. Everything is closed: the market, shops, and pharmacies have been shut for a long time. It’s terrifying; everyone is on edge. My hometown is being destroyed, with houses and lives lost right before my eyes."
MSF is providing medical consultations to evacuees on the railway platform in Pokrovsk and is on duty at train stops.
"There are passengers with various chronic conditions, which can worsen under severe stress," says MSF paramedic Olha Tatsenko. "People are experiencing headaches, high blood pressure, and emotional overload. No one knows what the future holds. After an examination, one woman was hospitalized. She had extremely low blood pressure and needs further tests at a hospital, including a cardiogram and ultrasound, to determine the cause."
The evacuation trains are stopping in Dnipro, the major city closest to the front line. Some evacuees are heading to relatives in safer regions, while others are seeking refuge in shelters for internally displaced people in the western part of the country.
From left: "I stayed until the end, I didn't want to leave," says Kateryna, evacuating Pokrovsk; Raisa Epshtain fled Myrnohrad, saying, "I left everything behind." Ukraine 2024 © Yuliia Trofimova/MSF
"MSF will continue to operate in Pokrovsk as long as security conditions permit,” says Gianpietro Campedelli, MSF project coordinator in Ukraine. “Our ambulances are assisting with medical evacuations and transporting patients between medical facilities to help relieve the pressure on them. Our medical team is also supporting the last civilian hospital still functioning in the area, in the emergency room and intensive care unit departments.”
