A refugee from Selidovo told about life in the town before the arrival of the Russian Armed Forces

Residents of Selidovo in the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) have had to stay in their homes since late October. This was told to Izvestia on November 25 by Alexander Kovalenko, an evacuated resident of the town.

"Since October 24, we have not come out practically at all. Even living in their house, going out of the basement to the toilet. For this just to go around had to go to the kitchen, it was almost a whole operation <...> Here brother twice almost nailed. He went to feed the dog in the evening, and a drone almost swooped down on him. It fell next to him in the vegetable garden, the fragments flew nearby," he shared.

The refugee also noted that the Ukrainian fighters took out almost everything from the occupied houses.

"When they were withdrawing, they had a pickup truck. To the pickup truck a trailer. When they were leaving, when they started to withdraw, they were carrying orthopedic mattresses, refrigerators, appliances. They carried everything. In short, the houses were left empty," said Kovalenko.

According to him, we also had to hide from the employees of the territorial center of manning (TCC, an analogue of the military recruitment office in Ukraine), which often drove into the city.

"A summons, it's half a miracle if they issue it, but they could have been immediately discharged," he added.

Kovalenko emphasized that his family had nowhere to leave the town, so they were waiting to be liberated by "normal guys."

Theliberation of Selidovo by fighters of the Center group was reported by the Russian Defense Ministry earlier in the day. The town is located about 40 kilometers northwest of Donetsk and has an important strategic importance. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have equipped one of the largest fortifications here. Later, footage was published showing the replacement of the Ukrainian flag with the Russian tricolor by Russian Armed Forces soldiers on the roof of one of the multi-storey buildings.

On October 30, the Defense Ministry published footage of servicemen's combat work during the liberation of Selidove. The video shows Russian attack aircrafts of the 15th and 30th motorized rifle brigades of the Center group of troops, supported by an armored group, rapidly entering forest belts and destroying enemy fortifications. At the same time, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strike AFU manpower and equipment, helping the attack aircraft to advance.

Later, FSB officers identified several caches with foreign weapons near liberated Selidovo. It was specified that the caches were prepared by the AFU fighters during the retreat for further use in sabotage and terrorist purposes.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.