Pokrovsk (Ukraine)(AP): As Russian forces intensify their shelling of eastern Ukraine, more people are leaving their homes in search of safety.
In Pokrovsk, a town in the Donetsk region, people lined up Tuesday to board a train headed to the far west of the country along the border with Hungary and Slovakia. One person was lifted onto the train in a wheelchair, another on a stretcher.
The passengers took with them cats, dogs, a few bags and boxes, and the memory of those who did not flee in time.
We were in the basement, but my daughter didn't make it and was hit with shrapnel on the doorstep during shelling on Monday, said Mykola Kharchenko, 74. We had to bury her in the garden near the pear tree.
He said his village, Vremivka, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Pokrovsk, was under heavy fire for four days and everything was destroyed. With tears in his eyes, Kharchenko said he somehow held himself together at home, but once he reached the train station he fell apart.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi (PTI): In a remarkable success of the government's fight against Naxalism, 108 hardened Maoists carrying a cumulative reward of Rs 3.95 crore on their heads surrendered in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, officials said.
Thirty-seven Maoists from Bijapur, 30 in Dantewada, 18 in Sukma, 16 in Bastar, four in Narayanpur and three in Kanker -- all from the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee -- have laid down their arms before the forces, they said.
Among the surrendered guerrillas, six were divisional commanders carrying a reward of eight lakh each, officials said.
Security forces have also seized a huge pile of arms based on the information shared by the surrendered Maoists, they added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set a deadline of March 31, 2026, for the complete removal of Naxalism from the country.
