A miserable group of evacuees boarded a bus with bags stuffed with the last belongings they could take with them as they left Dobropillya, a Ukrainian town that the front line of the Russian invasion is closing in on, BTA reported, citing a report by "Reuters".
"It's hard to live in one place and then break up with it. But what can I do? Nothing," says Lyubov, who refuses to give her last name, as she sits on the bus that will take her far from her hometown.
For 18 months, the front line has been moving towards Dobropillya – once a sleepy Soviet coal mining town of 30,000 people.
Russian soldiers, who were more than 50km away early last year, are now about 15km from the edge of the city - close enough to be targeted by kamikaze drones carrying explosives.
On July 16, a half-ton Russian-made bomb hit the main shopping mall, killing two people and wounding more than 20.
Denis Naumov, a volunteer with the local humanitarian group "Proliska", which is helping to carry out the evacuation, said the situation there had worsened in the past two weeks. About 1,250 people have been evacuated since then.
"Just when we were carrying out an evacuation, we heard explosions," Naumov told Reuters.
Lyubov said she saw no prospect of a ceasefire, even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Moscow with tariffs and other measures if it did not make progress on ending the war by the end of next week.
"I don't believe it, I don't listen to anyone," she said, shaking her head sadly.