The Russians destroy Toretsk: life in the city near the front line

The situation in the Toretsk direction is very tough. The Russians are trying to break through to the city and shell Toretsk with all types of weapons.

Vasyl Chynchyk, Head of the Toretsk City Military Administration, explained the current situation in the frontline city, which may soon face the fate of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and other Ukrainian cities completely destroyed by the Russians, in an interview with "Radio Svoboda."

How many people are left in Toretsk

According to him, 4,500 people remain in Toretsk. Overall, 9,500 people are left in Toretsk community, which includes 2 cities, 10 settlements, and 7 villages. Over the past week, 1,378 people have been evacuated. Currently, the city has no electricity, and is constantly under attacks.

Before the full-scale invasion, Toretsk had a population of over 30,000.

Russia is destroying the city with all types of weapons

"From the city center, it is about two to three kilometers to the combat zone, and in some places, maybe even less. They (the Russian military) use all types of weapons and destroy Toretsk.

Today, there is no type of weapon that cannot freely hit any part of the city. That means all residents need to either stay in shelters or move to safer regions of Ukraine," the Head of the Military Administration say.

He also clarified that 70-80% of the city was completely destroyed, and 100% damaged. There is not a single apartment or residential building that has not been affected. Due to airstrikes, some nine-story buildings have all entrances completely destroyed from the first to the last floor.

Parents secretly brought children back to Toretsk despite mandatory evacuation

According to the Head of the Military Administration, there may be families with children in Toretsk, although the local authorities conducted a mandatory evacuation of families with children.

"Unfortunately, there were cases when parents officially left through checkpoints, we made the necessary marks, but then they secretly bypassed the checkpoints through detours and paths and brought the children back to the community. Parents even kept the children inside the apartments so they wouldn't be noticed... We had several cases where some families were forcibly evacuated a second, third, and even a sixth time. I can definitely say that a few children may still be there. We do not have the right to enter apartments. According to official information, they have left, but the parents brought them back," Vasyl Chynchyk said.

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