Evacuation Under Fire

Rescuing Civilians from Toretsk

For nearly two years, we collaborated with local partners in Toretsk to support three community centers and kitchens, helping residents of this strategic mining town in eastern Ukraine.

When the Ukrainian defensive lines collapsed in June 2024, we found ourselves at the center of one of the war's most dangerous civilian evacuation operations. As one of the only humanitarian organizations with deep community ties in Toretsk, we immediately mobilized evacuation efforts.

This video documents our two-month mission extracting families, belongings, and pets from Toretsk as fierce fighting raged around us. Dodging drones, navigating between opposing forces, and working through artillery barrages and glide bomb attacks, we witnessed firsthand how a critical military miscalculation put an entire community at risk.

https://youtu.be/7oJBVg2fxx4