The evacuation of people from the city of Soledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to other cities in the region as well as to the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) began following the intensification of fighting in this area, a Russian lawmaker told TASS on Friday.
- “As soon as the liberation of Soledar began, those people who were liberated <…> were evacuated both to DPR cities and to their relatives in the LPR,” said Viktor Volodatsky, first deputy chairman of the committee for CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots of the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) and coordinator for relations with the LPR’s People’s Council (parliament).
- According to Volodatsky, Russian soldiers helped the local population with food and evacuation.
- “I met with company and platoon commanders of our 6th regiment, who were liberating [Soledar’s] suburbs. They were born there and they evacuated their friends and relatives who had been hiding in cellars for weeks and months,” he said.
- “At nighttime, our soldiers, risking their lives, delivered food and water to these people to keep them alive.”
He stressed that Ukrainian troops were acting as though they wanted all Soledar residents to die. Such behavior, in his words, is explained by their hatred towards these people for the rejection of Ukrainian nationalism.
- “For them, the city residents are third-class citizens who refused to use the Ukrainian language, [Stepan] Bandera’s ideology, and that is why they were buried alive in cellars there. And our soldiers helped them survive,” he explained.
- The Russian defense ministry said on Friday that in the evening on January 12, Russian troops had liberated Soledar after days of fierce fighting.
Source: TASS
Soledar residents say they came under Ukrainian fire as they were leaving town
- People that fled Soledar and are now housed in a temporary settlement in Shakhtyorsk have told TASS that Ukrainian forces opened fire on them as they were leaving the embattled town.
Soledar resident Tatiana said she was sure that Ukrainian forces were aware they were shelling fleeing civilians. Some other people in the temporary settlement also said the shelling of the evacuating people was deliberate.
- “We were afraid of going outside for three days,” Tatiana recollected.
She said her home had been destroyed by Ukrainian shelling.
- “The house was falling apart, engulfed by fire. That was scary,” she said. “We have nowhere to go back to. We are basically homeless.”
Another town resident, Larisa, recounted two instances of looting by Ukrainian troops. She also said a complaint by a local resident that his car had been stolen was followed by Ukrainian shelling of his garages with incendiary munitions.