The Donbas battle is crucial for Zelensky and Ukraine 1:25
Bakhmut, Ukraine (CNN) --
Galina Nikolaevna weeps amid the remains of her home in the village of Kamyshevakha, in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Two days ago, a couple of Russian shells hit the house and garage, rendering it uninhabitable.
But Nikolaevna and her husband refuse to leave.
Like many people here, they have nowhere to go and no means to support themselves, Nikolaevna said.
She has been told that it costs US$300 just to get to Bakhmut, the nearest city under full Ukrainian control.
Two shells went through the roof of Galina Nikolaevna.
"We don't even have [a] liter of gasoline. And our property..." Nikolaevna told CNN, breaking down in tears before continuing: "We worked our whole lives for this."
This town, on the outskirts of Popasna, in Luhansk, has been hit hard by artillery in recent days.
The people here are now completely cut off from basic services.
In front of the damaged building there are large buckets and troughs to collect rainwater.
A generator, the only source of power the residents have, hums loudly outside the door.
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Down the street from Nikolaevna's former home, Aleksandr Prokopenko helps evacuate the residents of the destroyed town.
Prokopenko is from Popasna and used to work as a manager at a gas company.
He now spends his days in his old car Zhiguli, making the perilous journey through Donbas to rescue the people of his besieged hometown.
Russian soldiers have already entered Popasna, where some of the heaviest fighting in the region has taken place.
Prokopenko picks up Vladimir, who is waiting to be evacuated with his sick father, Anatoly.
His mother, Anatoly's wife, had been killed by shrapnel from a shell two days earlier.
She was buried the next day.
Like many others in Ukraine, Vladimir does not want his full name published for security reasons.
With the constant noise of artillery in the distance, Prokopenko loads up his few belongings and helps Anatoly into the car.
A neighbor, seeing the CNN crew, shouts from the window to show the world what the Russians have done.
Vladimir helps his father, Anatoly, walk with the help of a neighbor.
The day before he buried his mother.
"I love my people and I can't leave it. I can't leave the people here. Someone has to help the people," Prokopenko told CNN.
Although many of the buses evacuating civilians carry signs that say "children" or "evacuation," Prokopenko said flagging his car isn't worth it.
"The Russians don't look at this, it makes no difference to them, children or evacuations or anything else. They bomb everything. School buses, Red Cross convoys, anything that moves," he said.
Aleksandr Prokopenko sets out from Bakhmut to rescue the residents near his hometown turned battlefield, the village of Popasna.
everyone is scared
The Donbas region has already endured eight years of war, with Ukrainian forces fighting Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
When the air-raid sirens sound, which is often, most people go about their business.
The constant roars of artillery have become part of the soundtrack of everyday life.
But with Russian troops entering several cities as part of a new large-scale offensive, the fighting has intensified dramatically.
The Russian military intends to secure all of Donetsk and Luhansk, the two regions that make up Donbas.
Parts of them have been under separatist control since 2014 and Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to recognize these regions as independent was seen as the opening blow of his war against Ukraine.
Russia admits for the first time that it is seeking to control all of southern Ukraine as well as Donbas
As the fighting intensifies, thousands of civilians find themselves stranded in small towns.
When entering the Donbas region, almost all traffic flows in the opposite direction.
Ambulances and evacuation buses ply the bumpy roads to get people to safety.
Checkpoints have sprung up every few kilometers.
Ukrainian forces are seen digging trenches along the road.
But there is little relief for those arriving in Bakhmut, a city that remains under Ukrainian control.
Its central square is practically empty.
A handful of people line up to get money from the ATM.
Leaning against a fence, two older men observe the scene.
Anatoly Vunyak, one of them, sent his family out of the city.
He plans to stay and wait.
"I am 75 years old, what am I going to look for? I am too old to hide. I worked very hard for 12 years as a driver in the north to buy my house," he said.
"Yes, we are afraid. Who is not afraid? Find me someone who is not afraid. Everyone is afraid."
When asked about the situation, the other of the two men, Yuri, shrugs.
"It's bright and sunny," he says wryly.
"We are alive".
Nearby, Vera, 38, is on her way to see her mother, bringing her freshly picked tulips.
Ella's son Ella's Valery, 10 years old, rides alongside her on her bicycle.
He goes to school online, but the internet is spotty.
Vera said she heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's announcement on Monday that the Russian offensive in Donbas had begun.
She says that she fears having to leave Bakhmut soon, but her mother, who is in a wheelchair, cannot easily flee.
As steady pounding is heard in the distance, Vera tilts her head to listen.
"We try to listen and hear how far away it is, but now it has become far away. For now, we sit and wait and read the news," he says.
After the treacherous journey out of Popasna, Prokopenko leaves Anatoly and Vladimir in a home for displaced people.
The first five nights are free.
Afterwards, they are on their own.
The roads leading to and around the town of Popasna are eerily silent as the fighting intensifies.
In a cold, drafty room, there are a couple dozen beds spread out.
Anatoly collapses on one, coughing from the effort.
Next door, another couple rescued by Prokopenko laments that their apartment in Popasna has been destroyed in the fighting.
But unlike most Ukrainians, they do not blame Putin.
"All our things, everything was on fire. It's a nightmare. Thanks to the United States, which has brought us weapons. It's a horror, a nightmare," the woman said.
Not an uncommon sight in some parts of eastern Ukraine.
Russian is the main language here and many watch Russian TV with its relentless propaganda.
"Putin wants to find a peaceful solution," the woman's husband added.
Prokopenko seemed visibly frustrated by what they were saying.
"Don't spread these fairy tales. He came with weapons and attacked our land. Did we attack Russia? Please don't tell the whole world these lies," he told them.
DonbasWar in Ukraine