More than 500 residents of Donetsk Oblast with limited mobility refused to be evacuated
In the Donetsk region, 533 elderly people with limited mobility are refusing to be evacuated to safer areas, despite the constant threat of Russian shelling. Authorities and volunteers continue to urge them to leave the dangerous areas.
This information came to light during an online briefing by Dmytro Pozharskyi, deputy head of the Social Protection Department of the Donetsk Regional State Administration and head of the Social Services Division.
Currently, 701 single people with limited mobility are receiving social support. “Of the 701 people, 533 categorically refuse to leave, while 168 are considering it and may leave if the security situation deteriorates sharply. Of these 168 people who are considering it, 58 have relatives in safer regions who are also urging them to evacuate and are ready to take them in,” Pozharsky noted.
The official explained that most people do not want to leave their homes. Among the reasons they cite are a reluctance to leave the houses or apartments they acquired through many years of hard work, as well as the graves of their relatives that remain in the Donetsk region.
“Unfortunately, they’re staying—in other words, even their own relatives can’t persuade them… But we still ask all relatives and acquaintances to persuade these people to agree to leave after all, in order to save what is most precious—their lives,” Pozharsky emphasized.
According to the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, more than 1,394,000 people have been evacuated from the territory of the region controlled by Ukrainian authorities since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Among them are more than 210,000 children and 47,500 people with disabilities.
As of June 24, 2026, approximately 135,000 civilians remain in the territory of Donetsk Oblast controlled by Ukraine. Of these, nearly 14,800 live in settlements classified as active combat zones, Pozharsky said, according to Ukrinform.
Earlier, on June 17, in the Synelnykivskyi District of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the forced evacuation of families with children began from 23 more settlements. The decision was made by the local military-civilian administration due to the deteriorating security situation in the region.
A 90-year-old woman was evacuated from a village near the front line following constant shelling.
