– This is my home. I was born here. I understand that it is unsafe now. It is difficult and scary. But I do not want to leave my home. And I know how difficult it is for the refugees to find a place to live, earn enough money, get food … No, I do not want it that way, Oksana Demo states firmly. It is a slightly warm and calm summer day. A family of four. Three generations. Grandmother, mother and father and daughter on a trip. They take a drink break in the park before cycling the last stretch home. WILL STAY: The adults in the family have decided to stay in their hometown until further notice. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news But in the background you hear from time to time the sound of bombs. The plane alarm goes off so often that people shrug it off. You can not run down to the bomb room every time, then you can not do anything else. Slovyansk has been identified by military analysts as a likely first target for a Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine. It can be a matter of days. – It’s scary. Of course it is. But we have a large basement in our house. If it gets too scary, we can hide there, says Oksana. Fear of people’s lives THREE GENERATIONS: Grandmother, mother and daughter. The extended family lives in a residential house outside the center of Slovjansk Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news Thus, she is one of those the mayor of Slovjansk has repeatedly approached. “Escape while you can” is his clear message to the remaining inhabitants. – The city is under constant attack now. We have eighteen civilians killed since the February invasion. 71 people are seriously injured. More than 500 residential houses have been destroyed by rockets, says Volodymyr Lyah. MAYOR: Volodymyr Lyah urges people to flee Slovenia now. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news In the city he is mayor of, they had just over 100,000 inhabitants before the invasion in February. A small town by Ukrainian standards. – Everyone has their reasons for not following the advice to leave. But first and foremost, it’s because many have never left their home before. They explain it by saying that they do not have enough money or someone waiting for them in safety. But first and foremost, there is a fear of leaving one’s own comfort zone, says the mayor with a serious face. Interrupted by the plane alarm – the Russians will attack. We do not know exactly where and when, but it will happen. And then it may be too late. We see that the Russians use the same recipe everywhere, he says, as we are interrupted by another plane alarm. The mayor does not sign to search the bomb room. He only raises his voice in a successful attempt to drown out the plane alarm. FEAR OF OCCUPATION: The inhabitants of Slovyansk know that a Russian offensive may be days away. But not everyone wants to escape. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news – I hope it will not be as bad as in Mariupol here. But we have seen what has happened elsewhere that is now under Russian control. Now it is still possible to go without exposing volunteers and drivers to great risk. The road to Dnipro is open, so you can get out. Preparing to stay At the city’s only water post, a vigorous 67-year-old is pumping water to the city’s residents. He does not want to hear about fleeing. Not because he does not fear Russian occupation, as other news has met in Ukraine’s easternmost region. The man who shares first names with both the hometown mayor and the home country’s president is crystal clear. – This is war. And then everyone must contribute. I contribute what I can, and today it is to help others get enough clean water, says Volodymyr Telitsin between the sessions. WATER TOWER: He does his part to ensure that the inhabitants who have lost their water supply get clean water from the city’s only public well with a water pump. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news The queue at the water post consists mostly of well-adult people. Although there are no exact figures on who and how many have fled, there is a long way between the families with children in Slovyansk now. There is no one on the playgrounds between the apartment blocks. There is little doubt that the average age in Slovyansk has increased quite a bit in recent months. – Show me where to go! There was also a family with children who lived on the third floor of a block of flats in Slovyansk. A few days ago, a Russian missile hit the wall. The whole apartment is broken. Neighbor Mikhail Kotlyarov also had the front door blown in. He was in the garage. The family with children had fled. The attack cost no lives, this time. FAMILY WITH CHILDREN: There was a family with children who lived in the apartment. Fortunately, they had fled when the missile hit the living room wall. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news The windows at Kotlyarov also shattered in the pressure from the missile. He has removed the broken glass, but until new windows are in place, plastic has been taped over the frames. It is at least summer and little weather and wind. But escape? No. He really has no idea. He says what many say: – I can not leave my homeland. In the living room is a Ukrainian flag. – Of course it is important that Ukraine wins this war, he says and sits down at the dining table. – But where should I have gone. I can find a map of Ukraine, then you can show me where it is safe. It’s not safe anywhere. Here in the city I grew up. My family, my son and daughter live here. I’m not leaving my homeland, he repeats. DESTROYED: Mikhail Kotlyarov’s apartment was badly damaged when the missile hit. But he does not feel safe anywhere, so then he might as well stay in Slovyansk. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news Have no friends. The cycling family will soon finish their break. The seventeen year old daughter Julia Demo has looked at us a little interested several times. As if she has something on her mind. She does not agree with the family’s decision to stay in Slovyansk. – All my friends and classmates have left. I hope we will leave here too, she says and adds that they might have gone to an oblast (county) bordering Donetsk to be close to home but at the same time a little safer. DISAGREE: The family’s daughter wants them to flee now. She has no friends left in Slovjansk. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news – Now we just sit here and hope that things will get better. But I think at least our family could have traveled to the nearby Dnipro or Poltava. As the family of four rides further up the road, new roars of bombs are heard from the Russian front. It is five kilometers away.
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The question of whether they should stay or flee divides this family – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
