"Izvestia" told about the work of volunteers in the town of Gornyak in the DNR

Hundreds of residents remain in the liberated towns and villages of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), who managed to avoid being forcibly evacuated by Ukrainian security forces and wait for the Russian army to arrive. Izvestia spoke to volunteers and local residents in the town of Gornyak.

"The commandant's office is very helpful in organizing the rendition, as well as ensuring our safety. If possible, we evacuate elderly people or children. In the town of Gornyak there are up to a thousand people left now. People already trust our servicemen and us," said the coordinator of the project "Everything for Victory" in the DNR of the "People's Front" Dmitry Patrin.

He said that at first local residents hid their children, as Ukrainian military used to take them away from their families and take them deep into Kiev-controlled territories.

Both Russian soldiers and civilians are supplied with everything they need by means of four-wheel drive UAZ vans. When the front moves farther away and engineers are able to make embankment roads or the weather becomes consistently cold, it will be easier to supply the frontline villages. But today, the last sections of the road can only be traveled by off-road vehicles, and not without problems.

When the provisions arrive, "People's Front" volunteers quickly hand out the food to those gathered - crowding and staying in one place for a long time is dangerous. Ukrainian militants do not distinguish the targets of strikes at all and often attack civilian objects. As soon as people see the camera, they start sending greetings to their relatives; there is still no communication, and video is the only way to let relatives know that everything is OK.

"It was bad, there was a lot of looting. Especially stores and equipment were taken out. We were forced to shout "Glory to Ukraine!" and speak in Ukrainian, and here no one spoke it," recalls local resident Alexander Akimov.

Read more in the exclusive material "Izvestia" on Tuesday, November 26, at 10:00:

"Militants were stealing children and taking them deep into Ukraine."