About 2,000 civilians have been trapped in the frontline town of Popasna in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is trying to step up its offensive.

Local authorities say there will be enough food supplies in Popasna for a week, and all rescue work has been suspended after three evacuation buses left for the region, but only one returned.

According to officials, five volunteer drivers and other workers who were with them either went missing or were taken prisoner by the Russians.

“Every day the Russians are moving a little further. The situation is very difficult,” said Mykola Khanatov, head of the Popasna City Center.

Small groups of volunteers on cars and buses are very helpful in evacuations, especially the elderly and infirm – those who tried but could not leave the region to escape the Russian offensive.

“We got pretty close to the front line and took the blind out, people on crutches,” said Guy Osborne, a British math teacher who volunteers for a small charity in the area.

Last Friday, local history teacher Mykhailo Pankov took a school bus to Popasna, hoping to evacuate dozens of civilians who had been hiding in basements for weeks.

Popasna is located between Luhansk and Donetsk, which have been held by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

His wife, Yulia Pinzelyk, begged to stop the trip, as Russian forces gradually took control of almost the entire city.

“He is stubborn. He said he was not afraid and that people needed help,” she said.

Within hours, another school bus returned to Bakhmut with several elderly people. They sat almost in silence, obviously very impressed by what was happening.

“It was so scary. We sat in the basement for two months,” said one elderly woman, who burst into tears.

However, Mikhail and his bus did not return. Like the driver of the third bus. There are reports that one of the buses was fired upon.

“I was afraid of the worst,” says Julia.

Mykhailo Varvara’s 12-year-old daughter wrote an emotional message on social media asking her to return her father:

“Please return my dad. We are very bad without him, we miss him. Please give me back my dad.”

But then a Russian TV channel showed footage of Mikhail first blindfolded and then talking to a Russian journalist.

The soldier explained in the footage that Mikhail had been found in Russia, that he was suspected of espionage and that he was trying to set targets for Ukrainian artillery.

“It’s funny. He’s a history teacher. He plays sports. That’s all,” says Julia.

But the video at least confirmed that her husband is still alive. A few days later, Mikhail himself suddenly called her.

“He is fine, well fed and kept in a dormitory,” she said. He confirmed that at least one of his colleagues was alive but wounded.

In subsequent calls, Michael suggested that he could be exchanged.

“I don’t understand it well. But yes, the idea is to exchange it [for captured Russian soldiers]. Let the authorities do it. I hope it will be soon and everything will be fine,” Yulia said.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister for the Reintegration of Ukraine’s Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk told the BBC that the Russians were trying to exchange civilian hostages for Russian prisoners of war elsewhere in Ukraine, which is prohibited by the Geneva Convention.

According to her, more than 1,000 Ukrainian civilians are in Russian captivity. “They took all these hostages, civilians, women, local council workers, to try to use them,” she said.

Mykola Khanatov, a local official from Popasnya, said that Mykhailo was carrying out humanitarian activities, not spying. According to him, the local administration is not negotiating with “Russian terrorists”, but hopes that Mikhail will be returned as part of the exchange.

“It hurts me to see that, but it’s good that we know he’s alive,” Khanatov said. “I hope they don’t kill him.”

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