“Graves Are Being Dug in the Streets of Pokrovsk” [INTERVIEW]

”Recently, a volunteer who was heading to Pokrovsk (…) was attacked by a drone and lost an arm and a leg. He is now disabled. (…) In Donbas, people try to live normally — restaurants are open, people go to work during the day, and at night the fighting is most intense; that’s when it’s hell,” says „Sowa.”

Michał Bruszewski: You are a so-called evacuator. You evacuate civilians as a volunteer. What is the situation like in Pokrovsk?

”Sowa,” volunteer-evacuator in Donbas: It’s the worst there. Recently, one volunteer who was driving to Pokrovsk to evacuate civilians was attacked by a drone and lost his arm and leg. He’s now disabled. It’s a miracle he survived. Drones are everywhere.

What is the situation in the city itself?

Civilians killed by the Russians are being hastily buried in graves on or near the streets. There’s no longer a way to evacuate people. Very few volunteers enter the city. The civilians who remain are mostly elderly people without relatives. They know they might die and prefer to die in their own homes. They aren’t collaborators — just old people. The army tries to save them even at the last moment, but it’s extremely difficult.

There are reports that Russian DRGs — diversionary and sabotage groups — are entering the city. Is the front collapsing?

That’s nothing new. Groups of Russians have been infiltrating behind the lines in Donbas for many months. It happened in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut. In Kramatorsk, there was a situation where four Wagner Group prisoners escaped and started a partisan campaign. Two were caught — I don’t know what happened to the others.

Pokrovsk is being encircled; the Russians could cut off the road and besiege the city. How dangerous is that?

Pokrovsk can be cut off even without a full encirclement.

How?

Drones control the road, and that’s enough. Every vehicle approaching the city is at risk of attack.

How do you volunteers deal with that?

We have to equip our vehicles with jammers, but that doesn’t neutralize fiber-optic-controlled Russian drones, so it’s still dangerous.

You’ve been saving people and helping for a long time. Where was it the hottest?

We entered the liberated Kupiansk, and it turned out there were still Russians there. A firefight broke out — machine-gun fire very close to us. Later, I showed a soldier footage of the action, and he said even a 10-year-old with a rifle could’ve killed us. That’s how exposed we were.

What will happen if the Russians take Pokrovsk?

They’ll redirect their drones to another city in Donbas, so things will still be very bad.

How deep are they pushing in?

Very deep. A Russian drone recently killed a child 30 kilometres behind Kherson. It made headlines. In Donbas, the most drones are where battles are happening.

How are people living in Donbas?

They try to live normally. Restaurants are open. People go to work during the day, and at night, the fighting is most intense — that’s when it’s hell. In some places like Sloviansk, even though the front is nearby, people manage. But now things are worsening there, too.

What’s the morale like among the soldiers?

They’re determined but tired.

Volodymyr Zelensky signed a law limiting the autonomy of anti-corruption institutions. How was that received in Donbas?

No reaction. People here have more pressing concerns — like surviving another day. I don’t see protests here — that would be suicide for the locals.

What don’t we know about humanitarian aid that we should?

Aid organizations deliver food to Donbas, which stops people from evacuating and kills their motivation to work. It creates problems and worsens the disaster. People are just existing. Food should be sent to distribution centres and shelters for internally displaced persons, deeper inside Ukraine. Evacuations are a huge challenge due to drones.

Thank you for the conversation.

Thanks.