Donetsk: A ghost town waits for the final battle

DONETSK, Ukraine: Donetsk, one of the last bastions of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, has become a ghost town as residents clog the roads and railway stations in a desperate scramble to escape advancing government troops.

The self-proclaimed prime minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Oleksandr Borodai, claims more than 70,000 of the city’s 900,000 inhabitants have already ed as iev’s forces move within 20 kilometers of the city.

Every train was full on Friday as residents calmly joined long queues to buy tickets.

“I have lived here more than 40 years and it is very difficult for me to leave this town. But there is no other solution,” says Natalia, who was catching a train to Dnipropetrovsk, 250 kilometers west, from where she plans to cross the border into Russia.

She is eeing after months of daily “bombardments” by Ukrainian government planes, which have laid siege to the separatist stronghold.

“The planes y near my house permanently and re on the town,” she says.

Watching over a pile of bags, a man in his fifties prepared to join his parents in Russia with his daughters and grandchildren.

“Everything is shutting down,” says the man, who did not give his name. “There

is nothing to do here. No work — and it is getting too dangerous.”

Stall-keepers and shoppers at a small market outside the station jump at the sound of artillery fire that breaks out sporadically a few kilometers away at the airport, where the separatists and government forces are vying for control.

“It is very scary,” says Yaroslava, who runs a stall selling sunglasses. “But we do not want to le ave. We