In Donetsk region under Ukrainian government control, as many as 2,574 solitary low-mobility individuals remain, and all of them are currently refusing to evacuate, putting themselves at risk.
According to a Ukrinform correspondent, this was announced during an online briefing by Dmytro Pozharskyi, Deputy Head of the Department and Head of the Social Services Division of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration’s Department of Social Protection.
“As of May 7, there are 2,574 solitary low-mobility individuals across the region, including 579 people with disabilities. They are under the care of our social workers, who assist them daily. These are all individuals who require outside care… And as of now, all of them are refusing from evacuation,” said Pozharskyi.
He noted that social workers are continuously engaged in outreach and information efforts to convince these individuals to evacuate to safer regions of Ukraine. A daily monitoring of these individuals is conducted, and each refusal is formally recorded.
“These low-mobility individuals are not being abandoned — quite the opposite. They are being persuaded, asked to agree to evacuation. They are told that the places they will be relocated to are safe and they will be cared for. But they reply, ‘No. This is my home, my apartment. My loved ones — husbands, wives, children, parents — are buried here. I will not leave.’ In other words, they categorically refuse,” explained Pozharskyi.
He also stated that partner organizations are cooperating with international entities and that evacuations have already been carried out to the Netherlands, Finland, and other countries. “Such options are available now,” he assured.
According to him, there are also options for personalized evacuations when individuals wish to go to stay with relatives. “They are carefully transported to their requested destination… The only condition is that these individuals must be willing to leave,” Pozharskyi emphasized.
As previously reported, mandatory evacuation of civilians from Donetsk region has been ongoing since August 2, 2022. As of May 6, 2025, more than 1.221 million civilians have been evacuated from the region, including about 190,600 children and 46,500 people with disabilities.
Source: Nearly 2,600 low-mobility people remain in Donetsk region refusing to evacuate
