ABC News travelled to an area of eastern Ukraine, where the scars of war were visible for those leaving, those staying behind and the wounded in hospitals.
(KOSTYANTYNIVKA, UKRAINE) Alina Ivanchenko and her 9-year-old daughter, Zlata, waited as long as they could before leaving the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Preparing to leave the relative safety of the central city of Dnipro along with a dozen other locals, the overriding emotion is bittersweet. "We were postponing till the last minute,"
ABC News(KOSTYANTYNIVKA, UKRAINE) Alina Ivanchenko and her 9-year-old daughter, Zlata, waited as long as they could before leaving the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Preparing to leave the relative safety of the central city of Dnipro along with a dozen other locals, the overriding emotion is bittersweet.
"We were postponing till the last minute," Alina, 40, told ABC News. "We are leaving because of the child. She is afraid of the explosions."
Zlata s friends have already left, and many of their neighbors have long fled abroad.
The city, less than 20 miles from the frontline battleground of Bakhmut, has been on the receiving end of near daily shelling from Russian forces for the past two months, she said. Yet the instinct to stay close to their roots stopped them leaving until now.
"I don t know [why it took so long]," Alina said. "We were thinking: later, later, because we don t want to leave our home."
Across the street from
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ABC News(KOSTYANTYNIVKA, UKRAINE) Alina Ivanchenko and her 9-year-old daughter, Zlata, waited as long as they could before leaving the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine. Preparing to leave the relative safety of the central city of Dnipro along with a dozen other locals, the overriding emotion is bittersweet.
"We were postponing till the last minute," Alina, 40, told ABC News. "We are leaving because of the child. She is afraid of the explosions."
Zlata s friends have already left, and many of their neighbors have long fled abroad.
The city, less than 20 miles from the frontline battleground of Bakhmut, has been on the receiving end of near daily shelling from Russian forces for the past two months, she said. Yet the instinct to stay close to their roots stopped them leaving until now.
"I don t know [why it took so long]," Alina said. "We were thinking: later, later, because we don t want to leave our home."
Across the street from