The Kremlin is close to crushing a vital Ukranian town

This is not Nina Uvarova’s first evacuation. The first time, she fled the advancing Wehrmacht as a two-and-a-half-year-old. Now, aged 84, she is running from Vladimir Putin’s army. The retired teacher has packed her most valuable belongings into five bags, which her son lifts onto the 14.10 evacuation train to Lviv. The emotions of the day bring back memories of her first escape. “The explosions, the shooting, the hiding in basements, I still remember it all.” The decision to leave agonised her, but Russian artillery landing in Pokrovsk’s southern district left no choice.

The crossroads town of Pokrovsk, population 59,000, has had a front-row seat on the full-scale Russian invasion since 2022. But it is only in the past month that its future has come under serious threat. Russia views its capture as a strategic goal, opening up advances towards the big cities of Dnipro and Zaporizhia. Ukraine’s great hope was that a surprise Kursk offensive would relieve the pressure. If anything, Russia’s advance has accelerated.