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Ukraine war: Russian attacks force evacuations of children


It is still dark when an early train pulls into the station in central Ukraine and aid workers crowd expectantly around one of the carriages.

The doors then open and a small child steps into the platform light.


Hands stretch out to help her down as her mother follows, carefully passing her baby in a tiny pink carrycot to the helpers below.


These are Ukraine's newest war refugees.

Last week, the authorities ordered the forced evacuation of children from 31 towns and villages close to the frontline.


This train has brought several families from the Donetsk region to relative safety further west. We cannot name the exact location for security reasons.


The orders - which are made whenever conditions are considered too dangerous - came after Russia renewed offensives in parts of the Donetsk region and fighting intensified in Kherson region.


As volunteers unload bags, boxes and suitcases, others usher the new arrivals, bewildered and exhausted, into the warmth of the station.

Here, three teenage girls sit on the benches, faces blank with shock. A loud meow comes from a basket at their feet.

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