It’s mostly elderly people who refuse to evacuate war zone - Vice PM

It is mostly senior citizens who turn down calls to evacuate the areas where active hostilities are ongoing. At the same time, mandatory evacuation applies only to minors.

Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said this on the air of the national telethon, Ukrinform reports.

"If we talk about Avdiivka, there were 32,000 people there before the full-scale invasion, now 1,500 remain, with no children among them. Forced evacuation concerns children in particular. Can we forcefully evacuate an adult, adequate person? We have to beg, persuade... Despite all hardships, we let them see where they will move. They understand everything, but mostly they are elderly people, they don't want to and they can't leave their homes," said Vereshchuk.

At the same time, as the vice prime minister added, there is not enough evacuation capsules for people with reduced mobility. In this matter, the government is counting on the help of international partners.

As reported, on March 7, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the initiative on the forcible evacuation of children from war zones. The basis for its implementation is the decision of the regional military administrations, agreed with the military command bodies and the Coordination Headquarters on the mandatory evacuation of the population.

During mandatory evacuation of children, they shall be accompanied by one of the parents, a person who replaces them, or another legal guardian.