Evacuations from Ukraine’s Irpin increase as war-zone Kyiv slowly calms down

KYIV, Ukraine

Evacuations from the Ukrainian city of Irpin to the capital have increased as clashes in Kyiv, which was turned into a war zone, somewhat subsided, residents told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

Civilians who were taken to the evacuation point in Kyiv noted that fighting in the region slowed down in the morning compared to Wednesday night, allowing evacuations in the humanitarian corridor to increase.

Alena, who was brought to the evacuation center on a stretcher, said Russian shelling is still ongoing in Irpin but residents can get out.

"The shelling continues every day, clashes continue. However, we have nothing to do but to stay alive,” she said.

Yelena Grun, who was rescued from Irpin, along with her daughter, said the city was badly damaged. "Everything, all the houses were destroyed in Irpin,” she said.

Having previously lived in the Donetsk region and being forced to flee the war there and settle in Irpin, Grun said: "We built a house by combining the pennies we had, and now it has completely burned down, turned into ashes."

Emphasizing that the humanitarian corridor is generally very dangerous and the Russian army targets the civilian population, she said there is a “great danger” of being attacked by the Russians.

“We were afraid they were going to shoot us on the way here. We were afraid that they would throw bombs when we approached the bridge” on the Irpin-Kyiv road, she said. “Besides, there was such a bombardment last night that we didn't know where to escape to in the storerooms of the houses.”

“There are burned-out houses everywhere -- people hiding under the houses. We have been without food, without water for 10 to 15 days," said Grun added.

She said there were a lot of dead bodies on the streets of Irpin that only began to be removed Wednesday.

"Now, especially in the morning, the humanitarian corridor was a little calm. And yesterday they were shooting at them.”

“We tried to get out yesterday, but we couldn't get out, there was a violent confrontation,” she added.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which started Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,232 civilians have been killed and 1,935 injured in Ukraine, according to estimates by the UN, which has said that the true figure is likely far higher.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to several European countries, with millions more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.

* Writing by Merve Berker