For Skachkova, the final straw was her son telling her that he was frightened by the constant shelling nearby. "My mother didn't want to go," Skachkova told Reuters, recalling how she had told her daughter that she did not want to be a burden. Moscow denies targeting civilians but the U.N. refugee agency says about 5 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced by Russia's invasion. Families with children usually stayed for a few days, while older evacuees were harder to find permanent homes for and sometimes stay for months. She was told by Ukrainian soldiers who rescued her that she would have died had she stayed another two days.

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Persons: Alina Smutko, Skachkova, Denys, Scherbak, Maria Maliarenko, Chasiv Yar, Yulia Nikonova, Denys strode, Max Hunder, Ivan Lyubysh, Timothy Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Toretsk, Ukraine, Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, KOSTIANTYNIVKA, Donetsk, Moscow, Tetiana, Bakhmut, Chasiv, Russian, Skachkova