‘They ruined everything’: Fleeing the devastation in Ukraine

By ELENA BECATOROS
Associated Press

POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Houses on fire. Artillery blasting through thick apartment walls. People hiding in basements without electricity, water or gas as their towns are pulverized. Civilians fleeing areas near Ukraine’s eastern front are describing scenes of devastation as their towns and villages came under sustained attack from Russian forces. More than 270 people boarded an evacuation train Sunday heading west to safer areas of Ukraine from the town of Pokrovsk. Many had come on buses from areas even nearer the fighting. One woman said the Russian attacks “ruined everything.” Another older woman who used to be a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin says now she wants to “strangle him with my own hands” because of the devastation.