The Kremlin is close to crushing Pokrovsk, a vital Ukrainian town

This is not Nina Uvarova’s first evacuation. The first time, she fled the advancing Wehrmacht as a two-and-a-half-year-old. Now, aged 84, she is running from Vladimir Putin’s army. The retired teacher has packed her most valuable belongings into five bags, which her son lifts onto the 14.10 evacuation train to Lviv. The emotions of the day bring back memories of her first escape. “The explosions, the shooting, the hiding in basements, I still remember it all.” The decision to leave agonised her, but Russian artillery landing in Pokrovsk’s southern district left no choice.