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Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast/Ukraine
"Wait, please wait! My husband is disabled!”
Try to get on one of the few trains from Kramatorsk in Donbass.
Here, not far from the front line, on day one of the war, an evacuation train is ready to take people west to Lviv.
The industrial town of Kramatorsk was among the first to be attacked, with multiple explosions early Thursday morning.
Andrej, from Kramatorsk
»It was an early wake-up call today – it wasn't funny at all.
Now I'm going to Kiev first.
From there I try to come west.
Somewhere quieter.
Nobody knows what will happen.
But if troops come from the east, they will come through this city.
So it is better to flee.”
Martin, business traveler from Dnipro
»I don't have a plan B. We definitely have to leave Kramatorsk, we don't have a place to stay here.
We only stayed here on a business trip from Dnipro.
The evacuation train was supposed to go there.
But now it turned out that he is not going to Dnipro at all, but via Poltava to Lviv.
So we have to wait for a next train.
And try to get ahead.«
Many of the regular trains have already been cancelled, making progress is not easy.
And escaping the city isn't an option for everyone.
Jana, trainer from Kramatorsk
»You know, there are enough people who just can't leave.
They have babies, or they have to take care of elderly parents, or they have no money.
That's why I don't want to go either.
These people are here, they are Ukrainians - and they want this region to remain Ukrainian.«
Alex, journalist from Kramatorsk
»It was a scary morning.
To be honest, I was very scared.
But now I know what to do.
If there's going to be a big evacuation, we'll go too - but for now we'll just stay at home and work.
Tomorrow we're going to teach people how to behave in a bombing raid."
Jana, trainer from Kramatorsk
»What should we do?
We must fight and protect our country and this region.
So we work here and don't leave."
Amedov, from Kramatorsk
»These attacks, they're just trying to scare us and create panic.
I have a friend visiting, he's leaving now.
But I'll say it again: We here from Kramatorsk, the locals, are not afraid.
And our soldiers are not afraid either.
We are waiting.
I hope the situation calms down and everything stops again.
But if not, we would fight for our country to the end.
For our beloved Ukraine.«
In view of the developments since Thursday morning, the question is probably not so much whether, but when the Russian troops will advance to Kramatorsk.