“People are buried in Pokrovsk right on the streets”: Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman about the humanitarian catastrophe
11 April 2025 18:42
ANALYSIS FROM 
The shelling does not stop, and bodies are lying in the open air. In the frontline Pokrovsk, a humanitarian catastrophe has been going on for months. The city in Donetsk region has been virtually destroyed. Most of the residents have evacuated, but thousands of people remain among the ruins without access to water, electricity, gas and medical care. Russian army FPV drones control the roads, making any movement a deadly game.
A deep humanitarian crisis continues in the frontline Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. The city is almost destroyed, and civilians are surviving in inhumane conditions, says in an exclusive commentary
“In fact, the humanitarian catastrophe has not started now. We can say that it has been going on since the end of January 2025. And it is caused by various factors. There is no need to blame the authorities alone, although I think they may also have some claims. When the government says it is doing everything to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, I think it has nothing to do with the truth,” Yevhen Ievlev said.
At the same time, the serviceman emphasizes that the main responsibility for Pokrovsk and everything that is happening in other settlements lies specifically with Russia and all those who support its actions.
According to Ievlev, since the end of January, Pokrovsk has been without basic living conditions.
“The city exists without water, without gas, without electricity. It is very difficult to drive a car – entrances and exits are constantly monitored by Russian drones. FPV drones on fiber optics are penetrating everywhere, and civilians have no protection,” Yevhen Ievlev said.
About three thousand residents remain in the city, mostly elderly people who simply have nowhere to go.
“A pensioner, for example, who is left alone, has nowhere to go. Her pension is not enough to move. And I don’t want to live in some camps on the floor on a mattress,” says Ievlev.
The soldier also notes the complete destruction of infrastructure. Seeing a window that has survived for at least a day is a fluke.
“The city is destroyed or damaged by about 90%. If houses have survived, they are isolated cases. In the private sector or high-rise buildings, either the windows are smashed or the buildings are completely destroyed,” Yevhen Ievlev said.
The situation with the dead is another proof of a deep crisis. Pokrovsk is Yevhen’s hometown, so he even has information that there is a body of a man lying near his house that no one can bury.
“In Pokrovsk, people have been buried right on the streets for weeks now. And that is at best. I know a place where the body of an elderly woman has been lying for more than two weeks, and no one can do anything,” Yevhen Ievlev said.
Summing up, Yevhen Ievlev asks a rhetorical question: can the situation in Pokrovsk be called a humanitarian catastrophe based on all the above facts? Obviously, yes.
“The road of death is every road here”: photographers showed Pokrovsk
Ukrainian photographers Konstantin and Vlada Liberov showed the terrible consequences of the daily shelling of Pokrovsk, where the city is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe due to constant attacks. They reported this in their Instagram post. Despite the fact that the trip was repeatedly postponed due to the control of roads by enemy drones, they still managed to show the real life of Ukrainians under daily Russian shelling.
Konstantin Liberov noted that chaos reigns in the city due to ambushes by FPV drones on fiber optics, and daily strikes by KABs lead to the deaths of local residents. The bodies of the dead are left in the streets.
“Every road is a road of death here. FPV ambushes on fiber optics are the new realities of this war. So all movements have become a lottery, in fact, directly dependent on weather, wind and luck. Due to the lack of logistics, what is happening in the city now can be called a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Konstantin.
The situation with the bodies of the dead civilians in the city is critical, says the photographer.
“Civilian bodies can be found everywhere. It is no longer possible to remove them and there is no one to do so. At best, neighbors hastily bury them in their yards. At worst, they just stay where they were killed by a Russian shell: at home or on the street. It is impossible to hide from this,” said Liberov.
Pokrovsk remains in an extremely dangerous zone. It is becoming increasingly difficult to survive in the city without water, electricity, gas and constant shelling.
What do the authorities say?
There are 3926 people in the Pokrovsk community and 1300 in the city. The situation there is the most difficult. However, humanitarian aid is being provided and the basics of the community’s “remaining infrastructure” continue to work. This was reported by Vadim Filashkin, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration. He said that the checkpoints are open, humanitarian aid is being provided, and it is possible to get into the city only with the support of our military.
“It is very dangerous to get into cities like Pokrovsk. The enemy is shelling every day, and not only with cannon artillery, but also with fiber optic drones. It’s very difficult to get humanitarian aid in, but the evacuation from this city continues anyway. We choose a certain time, in coordinated action with our military, and evacuate people,” says Vadim Filashkin.
According to Serhiy Dobriak, the head of Pokrovske MVA, the town has shops, a pharmacy, and a general practitioner with junior staff. However, the city hospital itself was bombed by 10 rocket-propelled grenades.
“We still have drinking water in the city, our water utility, and a point of distribution of free drinking water. Humanitarian aid is also being delivered to certain areas, so people are still surviving, but the density of enemy shelling is increasing, and people are falling asleep, and they (the enemy) are simply destroying the city and killing people,” said Dobryak
According to Serhiy Dobriak, the head of the Pokrovsk MBA , “in Pokrovsk, there is a question of physical survival, not humanitarian.”
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