STORY: Ukrainian police evacuated a bedridden 65-year-old woman by cart from the frontline city of Druzhkivka on Thursday (July 3), as the growing threat from Russian drones made it too dangerous to use vehicles in some parts of the city less than 15 km (9 miles) from the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Officers from the police's "White Angel" evacuation unit pulled Svitlana Manokhina along shattered streets while keeping watch for drones overhead.

Fibre-optic cables used by drones lay stretched across the ground as explosions echoed in the distance and unmanned ground vehicles moved along nearby roads.

"The city is in ruins. It's already been destroyed - you could say everything is gone," Manokhina's relative, Andrii Yavorin, 50, said.

"Those Russian monsters came to 'liberate' us - from our homes, from our lives, from everything. I hate them."

Police officer Dmytro Solovii, 25, said the area could no longer be reached by vehicle. "When we were walking there, we saw that the streets were completely destroyed and there were no buildings at all," he said.

"There are a lot of burned-out military vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles. It's impossible to drive into this area. Only on foot."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: DRUZHKIVKA, UKRAINE (JULY 3, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS MOVING

2. OPTIC FIBRE USED BY DRONES STRETCHED ON GRASS

3. POLICE OFFICER ON LOOKOUT FOR DRONE

4. POLICE OFFICER PICKING UP, PULLING CART

5. VARIOUS OF DRONES FLYING IN SKY

6. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICER PULLING CART WITH 65-YEAR-OLD BEDRIDDEN WOMAN SVITLANA MANOKHINA

7. UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLE DRIVING ON ROAD / EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN DISTANCE

8. POLICE OFFICERS AND RELATIVE PUTTING MANOKHINA IN VAN

9. POLICE OFFICERS, MANOKHINA AND WOMAN’S RELATIVE IN VAN / 25-YEAR-OLD POLICE OFFICER, DMYTRO SOLOVII, SAYING (Russian) ‘Turn on the light, I am afraid of the dark.’

10. MANOKHINA

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) 50-YEAR-OLD RELATIVE OF WOMAN, ANDRII YAVORIN, SAYING:

“The city is in ruins. It’s already been destroyed - you could say everything is gone. Those Russian monsters came to “liberate” us - from our homes, from our lives, from everything. I hate them.”

12. SOLOVII HOLDING ASSAULT RIFLE

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 25-YEAR-OLD POLICE OFFICER, DMYTRO SOLOVII, SAYING:

“When we were walking there, we saw that the streets were completely destroyed and there were no buildings at all. There are a lot of burned-out military vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles. It’s impossible to drive into this area. Only on foot.”

14. MILITARY VEHICLE ON FIRE / FILMED FROM MOVING VEHICLE