Ten days since Kharkiv RMA issued a mandatory evacuation from Kupiansk district. 526 people, including 143 children, have evacuated from their localities. 

The Russian army has increased attacks on Kupiansk and its outskirts since the beginning of August as a part of their efforts to conduct an offensive in the Kupiansk direction. The adversary’s troops have been dropping aerial bombs and shelling the town and nearby settlements regularly. 

On August 9, Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, announced a mandatory evacuation for district residents, emphasizing the need to leave the district for children and their parents or caretakers, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

The order for evacuation covered the Kupiansk settlement (Zaoskillia (on the left bank of the Oskil River), Kivsharivka, and Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi) and nearby settlements Dvorichna, Petropavlivka, Kindrashivka, and Kurylivka. 

Since the 9th, local and regional governments, 14 volunteer organizations, and emergency services have been helping people leave the area. Police and the Ukrainian military protect the buses from the Kupiansk region to Kharkiv.

According to Syniehubov, between the first two days of the evacuation, they managed to evacuate 33 people — and, as of August 17, 526 people, including 143 children, were transported to a safe location. 

Below is the chart we’ve made to illustrate the process.

Chart on evacuation progression / Source: Gwara Media
Chart on evacuation progression / Source: Gwara Media

Kharkiv Relief Coordination Center manages the evacuation. Their partners include World Central Kitchen, Stellar Ukraine, VTOBI, and other non-profits and charities. They work to bring people free food, water, and medication, find shelter and transportation, and so on. Local government and volunteers also assembled resources to help those who evacuated find legal services and get an internally displaced person (IDP) status that’ll allow them to get financial assistance from the state. People with disabilities are also getting help with the evacuation: nineteen have already left the Kupiansk region. 

Syniehubov states that 11-12,000 people are expected to evacuate from the Kupiansk settlement. According to him, Kharkiv can accept and accommodate 3,500 of them right now, but he’s sure that number can grow up to 16,000 promptly. 

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