Request to take someone into the hot zone.

The team got a request to bring someone into the hot zone today!

Civilians are not allowed to enter back into the hot zones. For their safety the military will refuse them access. However, we can bring them back in if they are trying to convince family members to leave.

A son of an elderly couple had  heard about our team operating in Kurdyumivka for the last several months. Its a small village north of Bakhmut that has been under heavy shelling for months. The front line is moving closer and closer by the day. The parents of the son are elderly. The father is willing to leave but his mother has mental health issues will not leave. The son hoped that a visit in person would be enough to change his parents minds. He has not had direct contact with his parents since late September but has been informed they are still alive.

When we get to the house it was barely standing. It was hard to believe anyone could be living there. The house had taken direct impacts and 100 meters away was a huge crater made from Russian attack aircraft dropping bombs on the village. The craters were made only a few days ago. When the son told his parents he was there to evacuate them his mother hid in an outdoor shed. She was terrified. She has mental health issues but also as strange as it sounds to us, she felt safe in her house.

These people have seen and heard the destruction and death happening in their village for months. Most of them are hiding in cellars or bunkers or just barricading themselves in their homes, never stepping outside. To them, to leave or step outside means death. Fear keeps them trapped in a false sense of security. It took a lot of convincing but we managed to get the lady to leave. The lady was petrified as we walked her to the car even cursing at her son for making her leave. Once in the vehicle with her son and husband the lady was calm. As we left the village, the couple could not believe the damage the village had taken. They had not left the house for months. Sometimes its pure fear that keeps people in their homes until its too late.