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By Deborah Haynes, Security and Defense Editor, in Vovchansk

Terror and grief were the overwhelming emotions of dozens of mostly elderly men and women who fled the Ukrainian border town of Vovchansk after the attack by Russian forces.

They gathered at an evacuation point just outside the city and said it was the fiercest fighting they had ever seen since the full-scale invasion.

Sky News followed two volunteer rescuers as they towed a white van to help residents evacuate.

On the way there was smoke hanging over the road – we were told that all roads to Vovchansk were under attack by Russian artillery, rockets and drones.

One of the attacks had ignited a fire in a forest along the road, sending clouds of smoke into the air.

The streets of the part of town we entered were almost completely empty.

We drove to a residential area with bungalows.

A group of five older men and women were sitting or standing on a roadside bench and seemed happy to stay there.

The rescue team stopped at an address where they had been told four residents wanted to be evacuated.

They knocked on the door but no one answered. Instead, a petite, gray-haired woman who lives in the house next door opened her green gate and told rescuers that her neighbors had already left.

74-year-old Valentina was distraught and had no intention of leaving, but rescuers persuaded her.

“Let’s go, don’t stay here, it’s dangerous,” they said.

Suddenly there was a boom – it seemed to change their minds.

She collected a few simple belongings and was led out of her house and into the van.

The mayor said around 500 people had been evacuated from the city since the attack began, but the city’s population stands at 3,000 and many more still need to be evacuated.

Evacuation measures are expected to continue.