Thousands Flee Ukrainian Villages as Russian Military Makes Gains (Worthy News Radio)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Stefan J. Bos

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Concerns are mounting about the growing number of displaced persons in Ukraine as Russia makes gains on the front lines.

Thousands of civilians are fleeing as Russian assaults are raising pressure on the strategic eastern logistics hub of Pokrovsk in Ukraine’s troubled Donetsk region.

Waves of guided bombs and infantry led to some of Moscow’s most significant territorial gains since the spring.

Russia’s gains of about 57 square kilometers (22 square miles) within a week are the third-largest recorded since April.

Officials say the push is fuelling a surge in civilians fleeing, with requests for evacuation in the area increasing about tenfold over the past two weeks.

However, people in several parts of Ukraine are trying to learn to live with air raid sirens, including this mother and her children. “When we hear this, our children come as they are scared,” she said.

Fred Stamps, an American school teacher from the U.S. State of Oregon, is in Ukraine to help displaced persons and research the impact of the war on deaf people. That isn’t easy. “There is again an air raid siren. But we go to lunch,” he said, determined.

MORE SIRENS

Ukrainian authorities suggest that more sirens will wail in the wartorn nation as Russian forces are using warplanes and artillery fire to support waves of infantry assaults. Russia’s military has been steadily inching forward on several fronts in the eastern Donetsk region, staging particularly fierce attacks near Pokrovsk, with Kyiv’s troops stretched thin.

Russia’s defense minister said its forces had captured five settlements in the Donetsk area in recent days.

Ukraine has received F-16 fighters to disrupt that dynamic. However, experts say they are unlikely to threaten Russian warplanes now as it would present a risk for the new pilots operating these expensive American jets.

As fighting continues, there is mounting concern about the rising death toll.

On Friday, Ukraine received the bodies of 250 killed soldiers in one of the largest exchanges of remains since Russia invaded in February 2022. Kyiv said it handed over the remains of 38 Russian soldiers in the deal, which was mediated by the International Red Cross.

DNA analysis will be used to identify the bodies before releasing them into the custody of the families for funeral ceremonies and burials.

Many more funeral services are expected as the war is believed to have killed and injured hundreds of thousands, including many whose lives had just begun.

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