Up to 12,000 people remain in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Lysichansk / Article

“Speaking of Lisichansk, 10-12 thousand people have remained there. For the majority [iedzīvotāju] managed to evacuate, and I have to admit – they had a chance to evacuate. There are people who stayed there for certain reasons (..).

What is happening to them now is a sad consequence of the fact that people did not hear and did not listen to the authorities when we spoke and gave them opportunities to evacuate,” Vereschuk said.

She said that the fate of the remaining residents of Lisichansk is difficult. The Russians put them in filtration camps, scrutinize them for patriotism or belonging to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, beat them and torture them.

Vereshchuk once again noted that there is important to evacuate from territories threatened with occupation when such evacuation is possible. She also called on residents not to believe the occupiers and not to return to Mariupol, especially with small children.

Although the strategically important city of Lisichansk for several days under the control of Russian forcesfighting still continues in its vicinity.

CONTEXT:

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to start invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. Putin claimed that NATO was going to use Ukraine as a springboard for aggression against Russia, although there was no evidence for these claims. Ukraine believes that Putin’s real goal is to destroy Ukrainian statehood and bring the territory under Moscow’s control.

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has caused a general condemnation of the international communityagainst Russia more and more sanctions are introduced. Many western companies have decided to leave the Russian market.

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