Sloviansk Taxi Driver Keeps Working as Russian Forces Close to Within 10 Kilometers in Current Wars in the World
As Russian forces advance to within 10 kilometers of Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast amid current wars in the world, local taxi driver Oleksandr Richak continues his daily work amid intensifying FPV drone and glide bomb attacks that are forcing more residents to flee the city. [1]
Russian Advance on Sloviansk Amid Current Wars in the World
As Russian troops gradually advance toward Sloviansk, the security situation in what was once a relatively safe haven in the eastern Donbas region has significantly worsened this year. [1] Now only around 10 kilometers from Russian troops, an intensifying barrage of glide bombs and FPV attacks is gradually destroying the city. [1] Many Sloviansk residents are now doing something that until recently they had never contemplated — fleeing. [1] Every day brings more reminders of the potential cost of staying. [1] Richak drives past new ruins, and the number of shops, cafes, and restaurants still opening their doors each morning is dwindling. [1] "Every night, something gets hit," Richak says, driving past a series of destroyed and damaged buildings. [1]
Daily Life for Taxi Drivers
Oleksandr Richak begins work after the early-morning peak of Russian drone activity and his wife Nataliia anxiously monitors him with calls after hearing explosions. [1] The 42-year-old usually starts work around 8 a.m., once the early-morning rush hour of deadly Russian drone activity in the eastern front-line city subsides. [1] As he briefly parks the car outside a damaged one-story house, his wife, Nataliia, walks over and hands him a bottle of lemon-flavored water. [1] Her worried eyes follow Richak as he drives off, watching until he disappears from view. [1] "Before it was fine, but now with the FPV (first-person view) drones hitting so many cars…" she says, unable to finish the sentence. [1] "Whenever I hear (a loud explosion), I immediately call him." [1] Richak drives for five minutes before arriving at the eerily empty Sloviansk central bus station. [1] Alongside a few other remaining Sloviansk taxi drivers, he waits for bookings, lighting up a cigarette and opening the OnTaxi app on his phone. [1] Suddenly, they're interrupted by the unmistakable buzzing of an FPV drone. [1] "It is an interceptor drone," Kuzmenko says calmly, just seconds before a loud explosion blasts out from the direction of a nearby market. [1] "Turns out it's not," he says. [1] "It hits, and someone is just unlucky." [1] A regular working day in Sloviansk will see Richak take around 15 bookings. [1] He tries to wrap up and be home by 8 p.m., before the 9 p.m. curfew and the inevitable increase in Russian drones as night falls. [1] On a typical day, he'll take in around UAH 3,000 ($70), but after taxi app commission and expenses like fuel, he takes home around half. [1]
NATO jets intercept drone over Lithuania amid heightened Baltic security tensions. — Source: rfi
Resident Experiences and Flight
Passengers such as soldier Yurii from occupied Velyka Novosilka and retiree Lyudmila Hurkina, who fled Horlivka in 2014, share stories of displacement, medical costs, and uncertainty about starting over. [1] His first booking comes in, and he jumps in the cab to pick up a 40-year-old soldier named Yurii, who needs to view a potential new apartment as its current tenant has decided to leave Sloviansk. [1] During the drive over, Yurii, who asked to disclose his first name only as his family still lives in Russian-occupied territories, mentions he is originally from the now-occupied town of Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast. [1] Richak's face lights up at the mention of a place he frequently visited for work before the war. [1] They share memories of the town and discover they both know the same woman from there. [1] Richak remembers her from the police academy. [1] "What a small world!" Yurii says, laughing as he hands cash to Richak and leaves the taxi. [1] His second booking buzzes his phone into life. [1] Fifty-nine-year-old retiree Lyudmila Hurkina rarely leaves her house these days. [1] Her husband suffered a stroke in May, is bedridden, and she tries to leave him on his own as little as possible. [1] But she can't avoid errands like buying food or picking up his medicine, and a taxi allows her to get back home as quickly as possible. [1] She already knows what it's like to flee, forced to leave the city of Horlivka when it fell to Russian proxy forces in 2014. [1] If she has to do it again, she doesn't know how she will afford it — two weeks of her husband's medicine costs UAH 3,000 (about $67), nearly the full amount of her pension. [1] "I might have to leave again and start all over," she says as they arrive at the hospital. [1] "But now I am 59. I don't know whether I can start over in a new place and build up a life." [1] The stories that are shared in taxis in Sloviansk are often understandably heavy, centered on survival in a city Russia seems determined to destroy. [1] Richak says he often feels like a therapist, listening to people's problems and giving them advice when he can. [1] But it can also work the other way, with Richak hearing useful information about the situation in the city. [1] "We drive on the road, and there is the feeling of having known them for 10 years," Richak says. [1]
Richak's Background and Encounters
Richak, a former police officer who refused to defect during the 2014 occupation of Sloviansk, encounters occasional pro-Russian clients who blame Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and demand he speak Russian. [1] Richak and Nataliia both studied in Sloviansk when they were younger, and in 2006, after completing 18 months in the military, he returned to the city. [1] Nataliia and their one-year-old daughter followed a year later. [1] They added a son to the family in 2013 and bought their first home in 2018. [1] "There was such life here," he says fondly. [1] Before the full-scale war broke out in 2022, Richak drove a truck, delivering cakes and pastries from the local confectionery factory Valensiya all across the country. [1] The war forced a change of career, and four years ago he swapped the truck for a taxi to supplement his main job as a gas repair worker. [1] Up until 2014, Richak worked in the police for 10 years. [1] In a country strained by corruption, in need of Western reforms, and still under the strong influence of the Kremlin, he hoped he could make a small but positive contribution to his homeland. [1] The rest of his roughly 25-man police unit had other ideas. [1] When Russia invaded Donbas in 2014 and its proxy troops occupied Sloviansk, all but two of them defected in what he believes was a prearranged plan. [1] "We were placed on alert, but I learned that my entire unit had gone over to the side of the (Russian proxy forces), including the commander," he says. [1] Richak was not surprised — he had heard their views during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan Revolution, and knew how they felt about Ukraine moving closer to Europe and away from Russia. [1] A week into the occupation, he walked out of the city to escape. [1] Pro-Russian sentiment persists among some Sloviansk residents, typically from the older generation who grew up in the Soviet Union. [1] Even to this day, under constant Russian bombardment, there are occasionally clients who support Russian President Vladimir Putin, and blame President Volodymyr Zelensky for Moscow's war. [1] Richak says he encounters someone like this about once a month. [1] Often, they will rant during the drive, insist that he speaks Russian, and, when he refuses, slam the door in anger when they leave. [1] His response as they exit his taxi is the same one he gives to everyone. [1] "Have a nice day." [1]
Taxi driver Oleksandr Richak continues working in Sloviansk as Russian forces advance within 10 kilometers. — Source: france24
Regional Security Incidents
NATO jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus, the latest in a series of Baltic incidents linked to Russia's war in Ukraine. [5] NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania in the latest security incident on Europe's border with Russia as its war with Ukraine continues. [5] "A drone that just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. [5] "With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region." [5] The drone, which was shot down near the village of Pratkunai in southern Lithuania, near Kaunas, the second-largest city, came from neighbouring Belarus, and was heading west, according to Lithuanian national radio LRT, citing preliminary data from the National Crisis Management Centre. [5] A drone alert was issued earlier in the capital, Vilnius, and surrounding region. [5] "This is best example of Allied unity and resolve in action," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys wrote in another post. [5] The response sends "a clear message that NATO stands vigilant, committed, and ready". [5] Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, all NATO members that share a long border with Russia, have regularly reported drone incursions since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. [5] The mission's jets shot down stray Ukrainian drones over Estonia in May, the first interception of a foreign drone in Baltic airspace since the war began. [5] Drones were shot down over Latvia in June and August. [5]
Energy Infrastructure and Diplomacy
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv has received no reliable guarantee from Russia on halting strikes against energy infrastructure, pushing back on a claim by US President Trump. [3] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing back on President Donald Trump's claim that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure, saying Kyiv has received no reliable guarantee that Moscow will stop its strikes. [3]
What to watch next: The incursion into Lithuania comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for "de-escalatory steps" if Russia did the same, after US President Donald Trump announced that the two sides had agreed to stop targeting each others' energy sites. [5]
