Residents in Sloviansk, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, face housing costs and family-care obligations as they weigh leaving amid October strikes and evacuation options, interviews and official updates show.
Deutsche Welle (DW) reported that Tetjana received a monthly pension equivalent to €67, while rent could reach €400 a month. “I don't know where I would go,” she told the broadcaster. DW also reported that caregiving duties and concern for pets influenced residents’ decisions. It described Natalja caring for her twin sister, who did not want to leave a sick dog behind. Vasyl told DW, “We're used to living under fire by now.”
Official reports documented strikes on three dates. The National Police of Ukraine said three FAB-250 bombs with UMPK guidance modules struck on Oct. 11, injuring seven people and causing preliminary damage to nine apartment buildings and a shop. The Donetsk Regional State Administration said two strikes on Oct. 13 killed one person and injured eight, damaging five high-rise buildings and an administrative building. The Ukrainian Red Cross Society said four representatives of its Lyman branch were injured that day and its building was significantly damaged.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said rescue operations after the Oct. 17 attacks lasted five days. Workers recovered seven bodies from the rubble of two destroyed five-story apartment buildings, and 12 people were reported injured. The city military administration later reported nine deaths overall but did not specify how that tally related to the seven bodies recovered from the two buildings.
Ukraine’s Cabinet rules provide monthly housing assistance of 2,000 hryvnias for other eligible adults displaced within the country and 3,000 hryvnias for eligible children and people with disabilities. The rules include eligibility conditions and do not establish whether Tetjana qualified.
The Donetsk Regional State Administration said 700 residents left the Sloviansk community in the first two weeks of October. Its Oct. 14 update listed free relocation to safer regions, transit centers and evacuation trains running daily from Kharkiv region and every other day from Dnipropetrovsk region.
The Donetsk Regional State Administration said on Sept. 25 that mandatory evacuation of children had been approved for certain parts of Sloviansk. In a Sept. 16 update, it said 139 children remained in designated districts as of Sept. 15.
