Escaping Conflict: Over 5 Million Ukrainians Displaced By War

Denys, an 11-year-old from the town of Toretsk, has his helmet removed by a member of the special police unit known as the White Angels after he was brought to safety in the city of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, on November 13.

Located some 7 kilometers from the front line, Kostyantynivka is the first port of call for many civilians fleeing the war in eastern Ukraine.
 

Denys and his mother, Olha Skachkova, have arrived at a temporary shelter. With their home near the front line, they were forced to flee, making them internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an estimated 5.1 million people have been driven from their homes and are now internally displaced.

Another IDP from the town of Bakhmut, Yulia, enjoys some playtime with her dog in the shelter. The 76-year-old lay wounded for three days after receiving a gunshot wound in her arm. Ukrainian soldiers who came to her aid told her that if she had stayed two more days, she would have died.

 

A woman eats her food in a cubbyhole at the shelter where she is staying.

As the conflict approaches its second anniversary, Ukrainians who are vulnerable to sniper and artillery fire are still being encouraged to evacuate.
 

For 81-year-old Maria Maliarenko, a native of the frontline town of Chasiv Yar, leaving her apartment was a tough choice, even after the windows and doors had been blown out by shelling.

"I never thought I would leave. I thought, 'Let me die here.'  But you can't survive without other people," she said.

Dishes of food prepared by volunteers.

Russian attacks on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure have forced residents of damaged houses and buildings to flee potentially lethal low temperatures.
 

It's also cold in the shelter. IDPs bundle up while they eat lunch in the canteen.

 

Ruslan, 9, an IDP from Toretsk, puts on an extra layer of clothing at the shelter where he now lives. 

Families with children usually stay for a few days, while older evacuees, who find it harder to find permanent homes, sometimes stay for months.

Denys plays with his new friends Ruslan and Artem, 11, at the shelter.

"This is my first time out of Toretsk," he confided to his new pals.

Denys and Ruslan ride bicycles.

For Skachkova, the final straw was her son telling her that he was frightened by the constant shelling. "So I decided to go," she said.

Skachkova weeps when she speaks of her 69-year-old mother, who stayed behind.

"My mother didn't want to go," she said, recalling how her mother said she did not want to be a burden.