Families evacuated from frontline Donetsk town
(8 Mar 2023) ASSOCIATED PRESS Avdiivka, Ukraine - 22 February 2023 ++MUTE++ 1. Aerial shot of the building destroyed by Russian bombardment ASSOCIATED PRESS Avdiivka, Ukraine - 7 March 2023 2. Various buildings destroyed by Russian bombardment 3. Gennadiy Yudin, chief of the Avdiivka patrol police 4. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Gennadiy Yudin, chief of the Avdiivka patrol police: "Yesterday Russian occupational forces hit the residential area. This high-rise became dust, rubble. You can see where rocket hit the roof and destroyed everything till the first floor." 5. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Gennadiy Yudin, chief of the Avdiivka patrol police: "They don't care about people, they don't care about buildings, shops. They don't need anything. They just need burned land, I think." 6. Yudin shows the crated from the bomb. UPSOUND (Ukrainian): "Here is the crater from the bomb, 10 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep." 7. Various of Yudin walking past rubble, among destroyed buildings 8. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Gennadiy Yudin, chief of the Avdiivka patrol police: "There is a bomb shelter in the hospital. There is a mother with a child, and we are going to evacuate them." 9. View from passenger seat of car ASSOCIATED PRESS Avdiivka, Ukraine - 22 February 2023 ++MUTE++ 9. Aerial shot of the building destroyed by Russian bombardment ASSOCIATED PRESS Avdiivka, Ukraine - 7 March 2023 10. Various of Yudin walking into bomb shelter 11. Various of Yudin speaking to a family 12. Various of Olga Shulga with her son Myroslav dressing and leaving 13. Shulga and Myroslav in vehicle 14. Shulga hugs her husband, and is then seated inside car 15. Destroyed houses seen through windshield 16. Shulga holds her son's hand 17. Destroyed car on the side of the road ASSOCIATED PRESS Pokrovsk, Ukraine - 7 March 2023 18. Various of Red Cross volunteers transport patients into the MSF medical train that evacuates patients from near the frontline of the fighting 19. Train leaving STORYLINE: As fierce battles rage in the Donetsk region, Avdiivka police evacuate families with children from the most dangerous zones on the frontline. Despite heavy fighting, daily bombardments and attempts to surround the city by Russian army, there are still around 2000 people in Avdiivka, including more than 30 children, according to local police. The scars of battle have left the city desolate. "They don't care about people, they don't care about buildings, shops. They don't need anything. They just need burned land, I think," says Gennadiy Yudin, chief of the Avdiivka patrol police. Some families are willing to evacuate. Some choose not to. Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the mechanism of forced evacuation of children from areas of active hostilities. “The decision should encourage parents to take more seriously the evacuation of their children,” the head of Ministry of Reintegration of Temporary Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said. “If adults are unable to take care of the child's safety, then the state should do it." The basis for mandatory evacuation is the joint decision of the regional administration, military command bodies and the Coordination Headquarters on mandatory evacuation. However, the children must be accompanied by one of the parents, a person who can replace them or another legal representative. In Avdiivka the evacuations take their toll. Olga Shulga with her son Myroslav make a tearful goodbye to Olga's husband, before they are bundled into a car. AP Video by Mstyslav Chernov Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
