There were tears as Ukrainian couple Ivan and Zoia said goodbye after making the tough decision to part owing to the Russian invasion of their homeland.

Disabled and 73 years old, Ivan Syrotiuk was becoming too much for Zoia to care for, so reluctantly they accepted a volunteer's offer to drive him to safety away from the fighting in Ukraine's eastern town of Sviatohorvika.

The couple had been together for 20 years.

“He does not have anyone. He had two sons, but they died. His relatives refused to look after him, and I cannot do it on my own any longer,” Zoia told Reuters while helping Syrotiuk to get dressed ahead of his journey.

The couple bade a tearful farewell on Wednesday (May 10) as he was driven off to an old people's home.

On the same day, volunteers evacuated the family of Liudmyla Shalai, 83, and her daughter Yuliia Zaitseva from the town of Kostiantynivka, some 15 km from the frontline in Donetsk region.

“It is a frontline town, there are daily impacts, every day and every night. And it is only a matter of fate whether it will hit your place,” Zaitseva said, recalling how it took her 40 minutes to pack things up before going to the shelter.

The two women will head towards Kyiv region where they will reunite with their relatives.

Donetsk region saw the heaviest fighting since February 2022 with the fiercest battles raging for the cities of Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Vuhledar.

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