Aug. 22, 2025, 11:34 p.m.
(PHOTO: Yanina Nadtocha)
Leave everything behind and go into the unknown. This is what the residents of the Korabel neighborhood, which locals unofficially call "The Island," are going through. Most people say that they did not leave their homes even when the neighborhood was flooded due to the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant disaster. However, targeted air strikes by the Russian army over several days on the bridge that connects the "Ostrov" to other parts of Kherson forced them to do so for the first time. Due to the Russian strikes, Korabela has no electricity, water or gas supply, and the logistics of delivering humanitarian aid are complicated. Therefore, local authorities urged residents to evacuate. Read more in Intent's article.
There is laughter and lively conversations in this room. Lyudmyla Ostapenko, a resident of Kherson, responds to our request for communication with good-naturedness, but asks us not to call her a pensioner or a grandmother. "I'm only 83 years old, I'm still young," the woman emphasizes. To confirm her words, she starts dancing, humming to the beat.
Liudmyla has been staying in the temporary shelter for evacuees from the Korabel neighborhood since August 6. She agreed to leave after a conversation with a police officer, got ready in a matter of minutes and went with him to the evacuation vehicle.
"I was very afraid to go across the bridge. But everything went well: quickly and safely. The thing is that I have poor vision in one eye and did not immediately realize that we had already passed it. And when I asked people, it turned out that we were already in the city. They greeted us well: they put us up in a clean room, provided us with bedding and basic necessities, and fed us deliciously and plentifully. We became friends with the girls, we are already "our" people. Everything suits me, so I'll stay here for a while," the woman says.
We catch Lyudmyla Ostapenko and her roommate having lunch. The room has four beds, a wardrobe along one wall, a table and a couple of chairs. The room is small, but bright and cozy.
The chirping of a parrot named Lenochka adds a special atmosphere to the space. She and several suitcases, in which she packed her entire life in one evening, were taken out of Korabel by 59-year-old Tatiana Pavlova.
The woman says she was alone in her apartment building. Her neighbors were constantly calling her and asking her to leave, but looking at her home walls, she did not dare to do so. Moreover, she was even afraid to go outside after a Russian drone flew into her balcony and smashed it. Everything changed when she was forced to go to the store.
"I went outside and it was as empty as after Chernobyl. No one was anywhere. I was very scared, ran to the store, hoping to see people there. And then a policeman appeared, such a kind and nice boy. He calmed me down and told me to get ready and come here tomorrow at a certain time. He convinced me that my life here should not end. And that's how I ended up here with my things and the cage. Taking Lenochka was the most important thing for me. How can you leave this little creature on an empty "island" where bombs are constantly flying? It's such sadism! I would not have survived it..." says Tatiana Pavlova.
Tatiana has no family, so she stayed in the shelter. The Kherson resident strongly believes that this is temporary and that she will have a place to return to. She does not hide the fact that she is afraid that if her apartment is destroyed by Russian shelling, she and her parrot will be "homeless."
In the corridor we meet 82-year-old Lyudmyla Sharova and go with her to her room. The woman has diabetes, so she is postponing eating for now, cleaning and putting things away. She is here for a few days, and then plans to go to her friend in another part of the city.
"Of course, I want to go home very much. But it is still extremely scary there. There is no electricity, no water, no gas. And the noise... It's horrible. I live on the ninth floor and every five minutes I heard these crazy explosions, I was constantly stressed. Here, for the first time in a long time, I slept well," says Liudmyla.
The temporary shelter is equipped with everything necessary for a convenient and comfortable stay. In addition to living rooms, there are several kitchens, showers, toilets and a laundry room. If necessary, various humanitarian aid is provided: household chemicals, personal hygiene, bed linen, towels, clothes and shoes.
People are fed three times a day. NGOs such as WorldKitchen, Peaceful Sky Kharkiv, and St. Martin de Porres bring hot and complex breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. In addition, there are microwave ovens and kettles in the corridors to make a snack if you want.
"This is just one of the shelters. Evacuees can stay here as long as they need. The only thing is that we do not accommodate animals. Instead, we provide places for them to stay in the public utility company "Guarantee". Also, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that after registration we take people with limited mobility and bedridden to hospitals, where they receive constant professional care," explains Igor Serik, Head of the KMVA's Social and Humanitarian Work Department.
Our conversation is constantly interrupted by the arrival of evacuation vehicles. All of them are met by representatives of the city authorities. They calm people down, help them with their bags, and escort them to registration. Here, social workers and representatives of various NGOs find out about people's needs for accommodation, belongings, medicines, and advise on the cash payment of UAH 10,800 and IDP status. Psychologists and doctors also work on site.
According to Mr. Serik, the influx of people has slightly decreased. The biggest peak in the evacuation was observed after the Russian army repeatedly hit the bridge with KABAs, when up to 400 people could be taken in a day.
Together with him we go to meet another car with three families. While Ihor's colleagues unload things from the trunk, he helps an old man who has difficulty moving around on his own. He arrived in the passenger seat in the front, clutching a bulletproof vest and wearing a helmet. These safety measures were taken to reassure the grandfather, as he was very nervous about the threat of shelling and hesitated to travel.
Next to him, Inna Raksha cannot hold back her tears. It's hard for her to talk because she still can't believe she was forced to leave her home. She took with her documents, medicines, a change of clothes and slippers, and her cell phone.
"I left everything behind and came here... The shelling is not as scary as the power outage. The main thing for me is to charge my phone. But where and how? That's why I left. I don't know what to do next, but they promised to help me here," says Inna.
This group of evacuees was brought by Valeriy Platonov, the commander of the rescue platoon of HOKARS. This is his third trip to the neighborhood in one day and 12 evacuated people. The man always wears protective gear, has a first aid kit, and knows how to provide first aid.
"Only a fool is not afraid... I joined the evacuation from the second day. It happened that during the regular arrivals of Russian drones over the bridge I was directly in Korabel, so I was already thinking how I would leave if it was completely destroyed. But everything has passed, and I hope it will continue to be so. I would also add that our people are very religious, all of them are traveling with prayers for us and Kherson. This is also very supportive, and I thank them for that," says Valeriy Platonov.
Not only public utilities, the State Emergency Service, and the police are involved in the evacuation of people, but also volunteers from the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, the NGO Strong Because Free, the NGO Real, and the NGO Public Dining Ukraine - This is Us.
The volunteers interact with each other and support each other. All for a common goal - to help people. In particular, the "Real" team provided armored vehicles to the volunteers of the "Public Association UKRAINE IS WE" when they were looking for a car for work. Denis Gorzov says that they could not stay away from the situation on the Korabel and were happy when their colleagues solved the problem with the car. This time, they brought three people to the evacuation point upon request and two more who were picked up on the way.
"We saw a grandmother and grandfather walking towards the bridge with bags. They were going to cross it on foot. We do not abandon our people, so of course we took them. The path is not easy: you look both up because of possible attacks by Russian drones and down because the road is disfigured by shelling by the Russian army. This is the first trip today, so so far there are five people and a cat. Yesterday, there were so many people that it's hard to count, and we also took a healthy Akita dog," says Denys Horzov.
"We have only a few minutes to talk, because the team has requests for the next trips that need to be worked out as soon as possible. And although there are no periods of relative silence in the neighborhood, the volunteers try not to fall out of the planned schedule. So Denis quickly checks the animal cages and gets into the car. In a few minutes, he and the driver are on their way.
Volunteer Olha Chernysheva works mostly around the city: she drives people who can go to visit their relatives or friends in other parts of Kherson, and sometimes she also travels to neighboring Mykolaiv. She does this together with other volunteers and the team of the Social Taxi service. If the distance is much longer, the city authorities help to resolve this issue through official evacuation flights or cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
"We take people with their belongings and pets directly to the entrance where they will live or to the train stations, helping them to get on buses or trains. No taxi calls... It's a small thing, but from the very first minutes we show the evacuees that they are not alone. Moreover, it is very difficult for people psychologically. They are morally and physically exhausted after living under constant shelling and worrying about the road to get here safely. And then there is the fact that they were forced to leave everything behind. But we have to go, because life is the most important thing," explains Olha Chernysheva.
The car is gradually filling up with passengers. Olga has to take Anatoliy Melnychenko to the shelter. The man has not eaten for three days, because the lack of electricity has spoiled his food, and it is impossible to cook other food because of the gas and water cutoff. The Kherson man says he prepared for the trip carefully. He packed not only his documents, medicines and a change of clothes, but also warm clothes for the winter in two bags.
Among the reasons for Anatoliy's departure is the need to stay in touch. His son is a military man and is considered missing. The man recently underwent DNA testing and is now waiting for the results.
Until the last moment, Olena Lysiuk did not believe that she would be able to escape from Korabel. That's why, she admits, she didn't pack much, just took the first thing she saw in the closet.
"It's 'fun' there. Drones are flying around all the time. And just now, when we were leaving, we turned back three times because of the threat of a Russian attack. It's scary what will happen if the road becomes impossible. And we don't know when the communications will be repaired, and winter is coming. So I decided to leave. For now, I will stay with my family in Mykolaiv. I want to return to the city and am already looking for a place to live. This is where I belong," says the Kherson woman.
On August 2, the Russian army attacked Kherson from the air. The bridge leading to the Korabel neighborhood was damaged as a result of the hits from the KABs. Currently, movement across it is allowed, but extremely limited. This complicates logistics, including the delivery of food, medicine, household goods, etc. On the same day, local authorities announced the evacuation of the neighborhood.
As of August 11, 1576 residents have left Korabel, including 56 children and 159 people with limited mobility, according to the head of the KMIA Yaroslav Shank on Telegram. You can apply for evacuation or get detailed information by calling the contact centers of the city or regional military administrations.
Яніна Надточа, Майя Птущук