Washington Post reporters had spoken the day earlier than with males becoming a member of the convoy: Some have been medical doctors, crossing battle strains to conduct lifesaving surgical procedures in hospitals that Russian forces have didn’t adequately restock; others have been odd civilians, making an attempt to rescue family members who have been too aged or infirm to make the journey alone.
Around 7 a.m. Friday, three suspected Russian missiles destroyed these plans. Explosions rocked the asphalt. The floor was strewn with our bodies and shrapnel.
Ukrainian officers stated that not less than 26 individuals have been killed and one other 85 wounded.
The strikes have been a part of a wave of Russian missile, rocket and drone assaults launched throughout the southeast as Putin readied his annexation announcement, Ukrainian officers stated. The distinction between the “great liberating mission” Putin claimed to be finishing up in occupied Ukraine and the brutal actuality of the battle he has inflicted on individuals right here couldn’t have been extra stark.
“I’m going to treat people with heart diseases as best I can over there, or I’ll put them in the car and bring them back here myself,” a 69-year old-surgeon, Vitaly, had stated the day earlier than, shrugging off the dangers with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
His mustard-colored Lada was there among the many wreckage Friday.
Vitaly was one in every of a handful of shellshocked survivors. His face was an image of grief. Some of the useless have been mendacity subsequent to their vehicles, or by bushes the place they’d looked for security.
When one in every of Vitaly’s companions obtained a cellphone name, the companion picked up and stated, merely, ‘I’m right here and I’m alive,” then ended the decision.
Friday’s strikes despatched shock waves via a metropolis already reworked by Putin’s battle. Hospitals swung into motion as casualties poured into their emergency rooms. Volunteers who’ve spent months turning the parking zone of a significant grocery store right into a welcome level for civilians fleeing occupied areas scrambled to maneuver to a different location, fearing that strikes on different humanitarian positions may observe.
At the final checkpoint in Russian-held territory, worry and confusion rippled via a queue of Ukrainian automobiles, stuffed with civilians making an attempt to flee. Russian troopers walked between the vehicles and advised the drivers that the Ukrainian military was accountable for the strikes, passengers later stated.
“I didn’t believe it,” stated Pavlo, a 23-year-old from the city of Tokmak. Like others interviewed, he spoke on the situation that solely his first identify be used, fearing repercussions for members of the family in Russian-held territory.
“We had to carry on driving. The other option was staying at home and being conscripted by the Russians to fight against my fellow Ukrainians,” he stated.
As Putin declares a partial mobilization of Russians at dwelling, Ukrainians in newly annexed lands worry that they could now be compelled to battle their countrymen.
Tens of 1000’s of troopers and civilians have already been killed since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into what seem like battle crimes on an enormous scale.
In a transfer that mirrored the stagecraft of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russian troopers and native puppet authorities staged referendums throughout the territory they management in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with victories of over 90% being recorded in every.
Some votes have been collected at gunpoint, escaped residents say.
At the brand new welcome level in Zaporizhzhia, nobody was watching Putin’s annexation speech. They already knew what he would say, and most households have been targeted on discovering a spot to spend the evening.
When requested about Putin’s newest declaration — that they have been now Russian residents “based on historical unity”— a number of residents rolled their eyes. Recent arrivals stated they hoped the Ukrainian military, which has rolled again Russian good points within the east in latest weeks, would at some point recapture the lands that Putin has claimed as his personal.
One of the volunteers, a 17-year-old named Yaroslav, stated that he deliberate to enlist as quickly as he reached the authorized age of 18. He stated that native separatist troopers allied with Russia have been now residing in his dwelling within the Zaporizhzhia city of Enerhodar. He had spoken with them earlier than fleeing, he stated, and so they advised him they by no means believed that Russia’s invasion would take them thus far.
“We’ve seen people suffering, we’ve seen people dying because of this war,” Yaroslav stated. “For what?”
As evening fell in Avtorynok, possessions of the useless have been nonetheless on the bottom. A small {photograph} was nestled within the lengthy grass. It confirmed a younger couple beaming, and so they regarded very a lot in love.
“I miss you so much,” learn a observe on the again. “Come back to me.”
Serhii Korolchuk in Zaporizhzhia contributed to this report.
