Ten years ago, Ukrainian troops began their withdrawal from Debaltseve—a strategic railway hub connecting Donetsk and Luhansk. The city was completely surrounded by enemy fire, and the promised “green corridor” never became reality.

We arrived in Debaltseve early on February 7, 2015, driving on a road littered with burned-out cars. Speed couldn’t drop below 90 km/h—any slower, and we wouldn’t make it through. What we saw was a terrifying preview of the destruction that would later become all too familiar after 2022: ruined buildings, wrecked cars, shattered windows, empty streets, and the constant roar of mortars.

Locals already knew where to wait for humanitarian aid. We handed it out, stopping at basements where families had been living for months—without light, heat, or any idea when it would end. Ten, twenty, thirty people huddled in damp rooms that had become their only shelter.

I begged them to leave. To take only the essentials and go—because this wasn’t life. Because soon it would be over, and they would return home. Because we would help rebuild.

I was wrong.

The next day, the shelling got worse. Two days later, evacuation teams could no longer reach the city. A week later, Ukrainian forces left Debaltseve.

I still remember the faces of those I pleaded with. “Maybe tomorrow,” they said. “We need to pack, finish things first.”

And now, ten years later, I wonder—how many of them actually made it out?

P.S. Between January 28, 2015, and the fall of Debaltseve, 5,238 people were evacuated, including 961 children and 80 individuals unable to move on their own.

Grateful to the State Emergency Service rescue teams, First Deputy Head of Donetsk Regional Administration Oleksandr Klymenko, and volunteers Oleksiy Fedchenko and Hennadiy Lysenko, who helped convince people to leave. That day, we evacuated 260 people.

📽️ Watch the full documentary footage of the evacuation: