JUDY WOODRUFF: The city of
Zaporizhzhia lies in the southeast
of Ukraine along the Dnieper River.
It's very close to the front lines
and so far remains in Ukrainian hands.
In the early days of the war,
fighting at its nuclear power plant
put the entire world on edge. Now
things have settled down there somewhat,
but Zaporizhzhia has become a
way station for thousands trying
to escape Russian attacks.
Special correspondent Volodymyr
Solohub is there for us.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: Zaporizhzhia is
relatively calm now. But the routine
here is anything but routine. The city has
become a major logistics center for those
fleeing the war in Mariupol and
other towns in southeast of Ukraine.
OLEKSANDR STARUKH, Governor
of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
(through translator): We have
evacuated around 112,000 people to
central and western parts of Ukraine
since the beginning of the war.
We serve as a sort of layover hub.
If all of those evacuees stay here -- and
that's tens of hundreds of thousands of
people -- it would be very
difficult for the city. Most of
the evacuees just stay overnight
and keep going into Central
and Western Ukraine.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: This is estate's main
layover hub. All those fleeing the horrors
of war come to this processing center to
get help moving further from the fighting.
And you can see the damage on
the cars arriving here. Viktoria
was forced to live three weeks in
a basement of an apartment building in
Mariupol with her 6-year-old daughter,
Elisabeta, and two elderly parents. She
told us the daily struggle to even cook.
VIKTORIA SHEKHOVTSOVA, Mariupol
Evacuee (through translator):
We would put a pot a fire outdoors, add
some water, start cooking. When they
would start bombing, we would
run back into our basement, then
come back to see if it's ready.
A lot of young guys helped
us with whatever they could.
Before the war, you would call that
looting. Now it's just some help.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: Staying in
Mariupol was, of course, very
dangerous. But fleeing the city was
both dangerous and uncertain,
since they didn't have Internet
access, and hence the outside world.
VIKTORIA SHEKHOVTSOVA (through
translator): On March 19,
when we were watching our apartment
burn, we realized we needed to leave,
but we couldn't leave our
neighborhood. We were too afraid.
Some people left at 4:00 a.m.,
packed their cars and drove.
Some didn't make it and were turned back.
There were no evacuation buses whatsoever.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: And while the worst
is behind Viktoria and her family,
their future is uncertain. As she
walks into this welcome center,
she says she's not really
sure what's next for her.
For many, the road from Mariupol and other
besieged cities in Eastern Ukraine took
days before finally reaching this
parking lot of a hardware store
on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.
And, inside, they can get some
clothing for those who had
very little time to pack before
fleeing the war. And, here,
they're being greeted by the
volunteers and social workers.
They can get some food and hot
drinks, and, for the first time,
feel some sort of normality.
They arrive here with children,
pets, and the few belongings
they could take with them.
Many are confused, frightened,
and not sure what to do next.
But all of them ask the same question:
Why did this happen to their city?
OLEKSANDR STARUKH (through translator):
One of the main problems of Mariupol,
according to both the experts and
those who fled the city, is the
absence of air defense systems.
If they had a proper air defense, Russians
wouldn't be dropping 1,000-pound bombs on
civilian objects. Zaporizhzhia also
needs a proper air defense system.
This will protect both our civilian
objects and chemical plants
and other dangerous facilities.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: We discussed the
need for more air defense systems
with a Ukrainian fighter
jet pilot, his location,
face, and real name could not be
disclosed. He asked us to refer
to him by his call sign, Juice.
JUICE, Ukrainian Air Force
Pilot: Right now, we need some
Soviet systems from our allies,
like S-300, BUK system, which are
mastered by our crews. Every day,
we are losing our systems.
Russians are hunting our SAMs,
our ground-to-air missiles.
So, every day, we need more and more
and more. We need to close the sky
above our cities, above large
infrastructure like nuclear
power stations, et cetera.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: How big
of a game-changer that would
be if Ukraine was to receive
these types of weapons?
JUICE: We have a lot of advantages
in land forces. We have a lot of
good tanks, anti-tank missile systems,
and other systems on the ground.
But, in the air, unfortunately, we
are not able to fight efficiently.
VOLODYMYR SOLOHUB: And while Ukraine is
waiting for more air defenses systems,
people from Mariupol and other
towns and cities in Southeastern
Ukraine continue living the horrors
of war, whether in the basements
of their homes or making the
death-defying journey to safety.
For the "PBS NewsHour" I'm Volodymyr
Solohub in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And a note: Our
coverage of the war in Ukraine is
supported in partnership
with the Pulitzer Center.