Ukrainian volunteers who have been evacuating civilians from the frontlines of the

war with Russia say some parents have been hiding their children in basements to
prevent them from being taken.

While parents have given different reasons, most volunteers have attributed the
phenomenon to a combination of poverty and the psychological condition of the
families, who have been living under bombing for months.

In early March, Ukraine’s government gave local authorities in the eastern city of
Bakhmut, the site of one of the longest and bloodiest battles of Russia’s war,
permission forcibly to evacuate children.

At present, this includes only settlements at risk of coming under Russian

occupation, which the government has said is limited to Bakhmut. There are no legal
powers for areas just as exposed along Ukraine’s 600-mile frontline, such as
Avdiivka, a town south of Bakhmut.

Sasha, a volunteer medic in Bakhmut, described how other civilians would notify him
of where children were being hidden.

“We knew (the child) was in this place so we went there and she had not been
outside since September,” said Sasha, who shared a video of the labyrinth basement
the child was living in. The children’s hands were grey from lack of sunlight. The
mother said she feared going outside and had nowhere to go – a concern reflected by
the volunteers, who said more work needed to be done on building relocation
programmes for civilians.

Civilians in Bakhmut have been under fire since the war began, but the intensity
has increased dramatically in recent months. Ukrainian authorities say 4,000
civilians are still in the city; it is not clear how many of them are children.