At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

At Ukraine’s front, police try to evacuate holdout families

AVDIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Pale and grimy from living in a dank, dark basement for nearly a year, the teenager and his weeping mother emerged to the sound of pounding artillery and headed to a waiting armored police van that would whisk them to safety. Russian forces were not far from their battered front-line town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, where shells fall daily, ripping through buildings, smashing cars and leaving craters. Dark, curly hai…

At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, about 25,000 people lived in the city of Avdiivka. Despite the shelling, about 2,000 civilians remain there.

At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

AVDIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) -- Pale and grimy from living in a dank, dark basement for nearly a year, the teenager and his weeping mother emerged to the sound of pounding artillery and headed to a waiting armored police van that would whisk them to safety.

At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

AVDIIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — Pale and grimy from living in a dank, dark basement for nearly a year, the teenager and his weeping mother emerged to the sound of pounding […]

At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

For months, authorities have been urging civilians in areas near the fighting in eastern Ukraine to evacuate to safer parts of the country

At Ukraine's front, police try to evacuate holdout families

For months, authorities have been urging civilians in areas near the fighting in eastern Ukraine to evacuate to safer parts of the country. But while many have heeded the call,