the story of the special correspondent of Le Figaro

REPORT – The city of 16,000 inhabitants has been occupied since February 28 by separatist groups from Luhansk, supported by Moscow.

Special envoy to Lviv

Like much of the rest of Ukraine, on February 24, Inna woke up to the sound of bombs. But for this young woman in her twenties, the Russians arrived faster than expected in her city. From 1^is March, the tanks enter Starobilsk, 16,000 inhabitants, halfway between Russia and the front line. “For thirty minutes, in my street, the columns did not stop advancing”laments Inna by telephone on Figaro despite the absence of a network for most operators.

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Tanks, armored vehicles, tanks, armed men: all the equipment and troops accumulated for months at the border paraded there. “Until the last minute, we did not believe it, and when we wanted to flee it was too late”, regrets Inna, who tried from the start to convince her parents and grandmother to leave. Because the Russians have set up checkpoints on the outskirts of the city to control entry and exit. An impression…

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